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UPPiEMENT 

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546 


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of  the 

University  of  California 

Los  Angeles 


Form  L  I 


This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below 


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X 


ILLINOIS 


TARR    AND    MCMURRY    GEOGRAPHIES 


SUPPLEMENTARY    VOLUME 


BY 
FRANK   W.   DARLING 

HEAD   OF  DEPARTMENT    OF    GEOGRAPHY 
CHICAGO   NORMAL   SCHOOL 


,604-6 


Neto  gorfc 
THE    MACMILLAN    COMPANY 

LONDON:   MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  LTD. 
1904 

All  rights  reserved 

\  Q>  O 


COPYRIGHT,  1904, 
BY  THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY. 


Set  up  and  electrotyped.     Published  July,  1904. 


r 


PREFACE 

THE  controlling  purpose  in  writing  this  supplement  has  been  to 
show  the  cause  and  effect  relations  of  existing  facts  in  such  a  way 
that  the  pupils  will  not  be  burdened  with  a  superfluity  of  geograph- 
ical statistics  and  data,  but  will  learn  rather  to  see  the  development 
of  facts  in  their  true  relations,  and  thus  gain  a  quality  of  mind 
enabling  them  to  generalize,  from  things  once  experienced,  conclu- 
sions concerning  new  facts.  The  aim  is  to  teach  the  child  rather 
than  the  subject-matter.  For  this  reason  much  space  has  been 
devoted  to  showing  the  dependence  of  products,  industries,  and 
locations  upon  the  physiographic  conditions.  The  mere  tabulation 
of  facts  has  been  made  to  give  way  to  relative  and  logically  con- 
nected statements,  in  which  the  mention  of  places  and  industries 
is  naturally  pertinent.  The  object  has  been  to  produce  a  geography 
of  Illinois  which  shall  have  intrinsic  value  and  not  merely  serve  as 
an  aid  in  the  selling  of  the  series. 

Hearty  acknowledgment  is  due  to  the  authors  of  the  general 
series,  not  only  for  helpful  criticism,  but  mainly  for  their  splendid 
causal  treatment  of  the  subject-matter  in  the  series,  which  has 
stimulated  its  use  in  this,  supplement  as  well  as  in  geography  teack- 
ing  generally. 

Acknowledgment  is  also  made  for  the  photographs  and  sugges- 
tive matter  so  kindly  furnished  by  Mr.  A.  L.  Klank,  Industrial 
Agent  for  the  Chicago  and  Eastern  Illinois  Railway,  Mt.  Veruon, 
Illinois,  and  to  Mr.  C.  E.  Siebenthal,  of  the  United  States  Geo- 
logical Survey,  who  made  the  models  of  the  Chicago  Plain,  photo- 
graphs of  which  were  furnished  through  the  courtesy  of  the  Field 
Columbian  Museum.  The  photographs  of  Chicago  and  vicinity 
were  furnished  by  the  Stadler  Photographic  Company. 

FRANK  W.  DARLING. 
CHICAGO  NORMAL  SCHOOL, 
CHICAGO,  ILLINOIS. 


RELIEF    MAP 

ILLINOIS 


FJQ.  1. 


CONTENTS 

PA.3K 

PREFACE          .......  .         .         v 

CHAPTER   I 
A  GENERAL  VIEW.         .............         1 

Relief,  1.     Rivers,  2.     Soil  and  Bed-rock,  4.     Glaciation,  5.     Climate,  10. 

CHAFFER    II 
PHYSIOGRAPHICAL  REGIONS     ...........       13 

The  Chicago  Plain,  13.  The  Illinois  River  Basin,  14.  The  Rock  River 
Basin,  16.  The  Kaskaskia  River  Basin,  17.  The  Big  Muddy  River 
Basin,  18.  The  Wabash  River  Basin,  18.  The  Southern  Non-glaciated 
Region,  19. 

CHAPTER   III 
EARLY  HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS  ..........       21 

The  Indian  Period,  21.  Period  of  French  Settlement,  23.  Struggle  for 
Ownership,  24.  Period  of  American  Settlement,  24.  War  of  1812,  25. 
Period  of  Statehood,  25. 

CHAPTER   IV 
CITIES  AND  COUNTIES  BY  PHYSIOGRAPHICAL  REGIONS  ......       30 

The  Chicago  Plain,  30.  The  Illinois  River  Basin,  41.  The  Kaskaskia 
River  Basin,  54.  The  Big  Muddy  River  Basin,  50.  The  Southern  Non- 
glaciated  Region,  58.  The  Wabash  River  Basin,  60.  The  Rock  River 
Basin,  61. 

CHAPTER   V 
SUMMARY         ..............       67 

Population,  67.  Agriculture  and  Mining,  67.  Transportation  and  Manu- 
facture, 68.  Government,  71. 

APPENDIX.  — Growth  of  Population,  73.     Table  of  Illinois  Soils,  73. 

INDEX Y6 


ILLINOIS 

CHAPTER   I 

gM  ?i,,i**tKL 
A  GENERAL  VIEW 

United  States  Relief  Map  Questions.  —  On  the  relief  map  of  the  United 
States  find  the  junction  of  the  Mississippi  and  Ohio  rivers. 

By  measuring,  tell  about  what  proportion  of  the  distance  from  the 
Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  coasts,  on  a  line  drawn  straight  through  the  junc- 
tion, this  junction  is.  What  proportion  of  the  distance  from  the  Gulf 
coast  to  Lake  Superior  ?  How  much  of  the  adjacent  land  slopes  toward 
this  junction  ?  Wrhat  part  slopes  away  from  this  junction  ?  What  rivers 
show  these  slopes  of  the  land  by  their  courses  ?  Find  the  triangular  piece 
of  land  included  between  the  Mississippi,  Ohio,  and  Wabash  rivers,  and 
Lake  Michigan.  In  what  direction  do  the  rivers  flow  in  the  western  part 
of  this  triangle  ?  in  the  southeastern  part  ?  in  the  northeastern  corner  ? 

Relief.  — -  Illinois  is  called  the  "  Prairie  State  "  because,  in  the 
main,  it  has  a  broad,  flat,  nearly  treeless  surface.  It  is  not  level, 
however,  like  the  great  plains  farther  west,  but  is  gently  rolling, 
with  gradually  sloping  hills  and  broad,  shallow  valleys.  The  relief 
map  shows  that  in  the  northwestern  corner  of  the  state  there  are 
some  very  high,  rugged  hills.  This  is  the  highest  part  of  the  state. 
Another  line  of  hills  runs  across  the  southern  part  of  the  state  from 
the  Mississippi  to  the  Ohio  River.  These  rise  abruptly  from  tbe  low 
land  to  the  north.  On  the  south  they  slope  more  gradually  down 
to  the  Ohio  River.  This  southern  line  of  hills  is  an  extended  spur  of 
the  Ozark  Mountains.  (Where  are  the  Ozark  Mountains?) 

In  the  central  part  of  the  state,  between  these  elevated  extremi- 
ties, is  a  depression  which  on  the  relief  map  looks  like  a  great  scar 
extending  in  a  southwesterly  direction  almost  across  the  state  from 
Lake  Michigan  to  the  Mississippi  River.  This  is  the  broad  and  deep 
valley  of  the  largest  and  most  important  river  in  the  state,  the  Illinois 
River.  You  will  observe  that  this  valley  is  separated  from  Lake 
Michigan  by  a  low  ridge  of  land,  which  extends  across  the  northeast 
corner  of  the  state,  following  the  same  curve  as  the  shore  line. 
B  1  /'' 


ILLINOIS  STATE  SUPPLEMENT 


This  ridge  forms  the  divide  which  naturally  kept  the  water  of 
Lake  Michigan  from  flowing  out  through  the  Illinois  River,  and  it 
was  this  ridge  that  had  to  be  cut  through  in  making  the  Chicago 
Drainage  Canal.  (See  page  14.)  You  will  have  to  look  closely  at 
the  map  to  see  a  broader  ridge  running  parallel  with  this  divide  in  a 
broken  crescent-like  slope  from  the  eastern  side  of  the  state  to  the 
northern  boundary,  through  which  the  Illinois  River  has  cut.  There 
is  still  another  ridge,  narrower  and  shorter,  but  having  the  same  gen- 
eral slope,  which  lies  still  farther  south,  through  the  middle  of  which 
the  Embarras  River  has  cut.  (Find  each  of  the  rivers  named.) 

These  ridges  are  heaps  of  earth,*piled  up  as  though  some  great 
force  had  scraped  the  soil  out  of  the  bottom  of  Lake  Michigan 

and  left  it  massed  in  these  long 
mounds.  All  the  rivers  flow  away 
from  these  ridges,  showing  that  the 
surface  of  the  state  slopes  gener- 
ally towards  the  south. 

In  what  direction  do  the  rivers 
flow  which  are  tributary  to  the 
Mississippi  ?  In  what  direction  do 
the  branches  of  the  Wabash  flow  ? 
Find  a  small  river  which  flows 
northeast  from  these  ridges  into 
Lake  Michigan. 

Rivers.  —  Illinois  is  naturally 
divided  into  seven  great  drainage 
areas.  Each  has  its  special  char- 
acteristics of  soil,  products,  and 
industries,  and  has  developed  more 
or  less  independently  of  its  neigh- 
boring areas.  For  the  most  part 
these  areas  are  river  basins  which 
lie  wholly  within  the  state,  and 
which  are  separated  from  adja- 
cent basins  by  divides  which  can  be  traced  on  the  relief  map. 

Two  of  these  areas,  however,  are  only  parts  of  great  slopes  which 
lie  mainly  outside  of  the  state,  but  which  extend  into  Illinois  ;  the 
northeastern  part  of  the  state  is  but  a  small  part  of  the  Great  Lakes 
and  St.  Lawrence  Basin.  This  small  portion  of  the  state  is  called 
the  "  Chicago  Plain,"  and  is  drained  by  small  streams  like  the 


. 


Important  M    r:ii:ii 
Alluvial  Soil, 

Sand  and  Silt 
Driftless  Areas 
Residual  Soil 
Ulac-lal  Drift  Claj 


FIG.  2. 
Divides,  moraines,  and  soils  of  Illinois. 


A   GENERAL    VIEW 


Chicago  and  Calumet  rivers.  That  part  of  the  state  lying  south  of 
the  southern  ridge  of  hills  is  part  of  the  Ohio  River  Basin  and  drains 
into  the  Ohio  by  short  streams. 

Trace  the  divides  which  separate  these  other  basins — the  Rock  River 
Basin ;  the  Illinois  River  Basin ;  the  Kaskaskia  River  Basin ;  the  Big 
Muddy  River  Basin ;  the 
Wabash  River  Basin. 
Notice  the  slope  of  each 
basin  and  where  the  river 
rises  in  relation  to  these 
highlands  you  have  studied. 
(See  Figs.  1  and  2.) 


K-  !>0  Miles 1 


FIG.  3. 

Section  of  Illinois  east  and  west  through  Rockford. 


The  Mississippi  River 
has  worn  a  deep  valley 
along  the  western  boun- 
dary, so  that  the  general 
level  of  the  state  is  much  above  that  of  the  river,  which  is  bordered 
with  high  and  abrupt  bluffs.  Between  the  bluffs  and  the  river  is 
a  low  strip  of  land,  very  level  and  but  a  few  feet  above  the  water. 
This  land  is  apt  to  be  flooded  when  the  river  is  high ;  it  is  called 
the  Mississippi  Floodplain.  This  level  strip  is  from  one  to  six 
miles  wide. 

The  United  States  map  shows  that  nearly  all  of  the  rivers  of  the 
surrounding  states  flow  toward  Illinois.     This  is  because  Illinois  is 


FIG.  4. 

Section  of  Illinois  on  the  89th  meridian,  showing  topographical  features  of  surface  and  height 

abot'e  sea  level. 

in  the  centre  of  the  immense  trough  between  the  great  mountain 
systems  of  the  East  and  the  West  (see  page  6,  Complete  Geography). 
The  average  elevation  of  Illinois  above  sea  level  is  about  600  feet. 


Ill 

f  M 
Is 


4  ILLINOIS   STATE  SUPPLEMENT 

This  is  fully  100  feet  lower  than  the  average  height  of  Indiana  and 
450  feet  lower  than  the  average  level  of  Wisconsin. 

The  Soil  and  Bed-rock.  — Wherever  you  live  in  Illinois,  the  sur- 
face of  the  land  is  covered  with  a  fine-grained  soil,  which  has  resulted 

from  the  grinding 
and  decay  of  rock. 
(See  Chapter  I, 
Introductory  Ge- 
ography.) On  the 
surface  this  soil  is 
generally  black  or 
dark  colored,  be- 
FIG.  5.  cause  the  rock  par- 

Section  of  Illinois  east  and  west  through  Bloomington,  showing     tides     are      mixed 
topographical  features  of  surface  and  height  above  sea  level. 

with  bits  of  decay- 
ing vegetation.  Underneath  this  dark  covering  is  usually  found  some 
lighter  colored  soil,  which  has  little  or  no  decayed  vegetation  in  it. 
This  under-soil  differs  greatly  in  different  parts  of  the  state ;  and 
in  most  places  there  are  several  kinds  of  subsoil  found  in  layers, 
one  above  the  other.  It  may  be  clay,  gravel,  sand,  silt,  or  resid- 
ual soil.  When  the  subsoil  is  dug  through,  as  in  making  a  well, 
laying  a  foundation,  or  digging  a  mine,  it  is  found  to  lie  on  top  of 
a  bed  of  solid  rock.  This  rock  generally  lies  in  thick  layers.  At 
many  places,  where  the  rock  crops  out  at  the  surface,  or  where 
the  rivers  have  worn  through  the  soil  and  exposed  it,  this  bed-rock 
can  be  seen  without  digging.  At  other  places  in  the  state  the  soil 
is  so  deep  that  wells  are  very  seldom  dug  to  the  bed-rock.  This 
bed-rock  may  commonly  include  limestone,  sandstone,  shale,  and  coal. 
These  are  all  stratified  rocks,  indicating  that  they  must  have  been 
made  by  being  deposited  as  sediments  in  water,  when  the  sea  cov- 
ered this  region. 

The  pupils  should  be  encouraged  to  investigate  the  soils  and  the  bed-rock  of  the 
home  region,  identifying  them  and  noting  the  order  and  place  of  occurrence.  (See 
Appendix,  for  description  of  soils.) 

Most  of  Illinois  lies  in  that  region  of  North  America  which,  dur- 
ing the  coal  period,  was  many  times  raised  and  lowered,  and  for 
ages  lay  just  above  the  water,  when  great  swamps  occupied  the 
land.  Each  time  the  swamps  sank  below  the  water,  a  new  layer  of 
plant  life  was  buried  (see  page  2,  Complete  Geography),  so  that  in 
the  bed-rock  of  two-thirds  of  Illinois  coal  can  be  mined  (Fig.  6). 


A   GENERAL    VIEW 


FIG.  (i. 
Coal  areas  of  Illinois  and  Indiana. 


The  layers  ot  coal  vary  in  thickness  from  a  few  inches  to  several 

feet.     In  places,  as  many  as  sixteen  layers  of  coal  are  found. 

On  the  map   showing   the   coal  region  of   Illinois  you  will  see 

that  coal  is  found  mainly  in  the  central  area  of  the  state.     In  some 

places  the  rivers  have  worn  their 

valleys    down    through    the    bed- 

rock,  exposing   the    ends   of    the 

coal  seams.      In  such  places  the 

coal    is    easily    mined    by   "drift 

mining  "  ;    but  over  most  of  the 

state  the  coal  is  covered  entirely 

by  layers   of   rock   and    soil,  and 

there    shafts    have    to    be    sunk. 

(See    page    66,    Complete    Geog- 

raphy.) 

Effect  of  the  Great  Ice  Sheet. 

—  The  great  American  ice  sheet, 

passing  along  the  trough  of  Lake 

Michigan     and    the     lowland     of 

central  Illinois,  extended  there  much  farther  south  than  anywhere 

else  in  the  United  States.      (See  Fig.  9,  Complete  Geography.)     It 

did  not  extend  over  the  whole  state,  however,  but  melted  just  before 

reaching   the   hills,  in   the  southern  part  of  the   state.       For   some 

reason  the  liigh- 
1  a  n  d  in  the 
northwestern 
part  of  the  state 
was  never  cov- 
ered. This  part 
of  the  great  ice 
sheet  formed  in 
what  is  now  the 
Dominion  of 
Canada,  north- 
east of  Illinois, 
and  pushed  out 
its  edge,  slowly 
breaking  off 
I'ock  fragments, 


In  a  mine,  showing  a  thick  vein  of  coal. 


grinding      tliem 


ILLINOIS  STATE  SUPPLEMENT 


under  its  heavy  bulk,  and  using  them  to  scratch  the  surface  of  the 
land,  as  though  a  great  piece  of  sandpaper  had  rubbed  over  this 


T> 


FIG.  8. 


An  ideal  section  across  an  eroded  valley  in  the  coal  measures.    A,  B,  C,  and  D  represent 
coal  seams.    Which  of  these  seams  can  be  mined  by  drift  mining  ?    By  shaft  mining  ? 

north  country  for  years.  The  soil  that  covered  this  region  before 
the  glacial  period  was  pushed  along  with  the  ice,  elevated  rocks 
were  worn  down,  and  bed-rock  was  scratched  and  grooved. 


FIG.  9. 

Photograph  in  the  terminal  moraine  near  Ithaca,  N.Y.    Notice  how  hummocky  the  surface 
is ;  this  is  characteristic  of  moraines. 

In  the  southern  part  of  Illinois  the  climate  was  warm  enough  to 
melt  the  ice  as  fast  as  it  pushed  south.  Where  the  ice  melted,  it  left 
the  soil  and  the  rocks  it  had  been  carrying,  heaped  up  in  long  hill- 
like  ridges  called  moraines.  (See  page  9,  Complete  Geography.) 


A    GENERAL    VIEW  1 

This  great  quantity  of  melting  ice  made  more  water  than  the  rivers 
had  been  used  to  carrying,  and  the  great  flood  thus  caused  carried 
with  it  loads  of  soil  and  rock,  which  had  been  brought  south  by  the 
ice.  This  soil  was  deposited  along  the  bottoms  of  rivers,  and  when 
the  rivers  shrank  to  their  former  size,  the  silt  was  left,  forming 
level  flood-plains  like  those  along  the  Mississippi.  The  ice  sheet 
melted  gradually,  and  as  its  front  retreated  toward  the  north,  it 
left  the  surface  over  which  it  had  rested  covered  with  a  mixed  soil 
called  drift.  This  drift  is  composed  of  the  fine  clay  soil  the  ice  had 
made  by  grinding  up  the  rocks  it  passed  over,  and  it  contains  many 
large  and  small  pieces  of  rock.  This  is  the  reason  why  the  boulders 
found  in  Illinois  are  composed  of  granite,  feldspar,  and  other  sub- 
stances which  form  the  bed-rock  farther  north.  Land  over  which 
glaciers  have  passed  is  easily  recognized  by  the  presence  of  glacial 
drift,  and  by  the  scratches  on  the  surface  of  the  bed-rock. 

It  seems  that  there  must  have  been  at  least  two  of  these  ice  sheets 
which  partly  covered  Illinois.  The  earlier  is  the  one  we  have 
described  as  extending  to  the  Ozark  Hills.  The  last  one  covered 
only  the  northeastern  part  of  the  state  (as  indicated  by  the 
white  portion  of  Fig.  9,  Complete  Geography).  Where  this  later 
ice  sheet  stopped  it  left  the  most  southern  moraine  ridge  noticeable 
on  the  relief  map  of  Illinois.  This  is  called  the  "  Shelby  ville 
Moraine."  (See  Fig.  2.)  Retreating  still  farther  north,  it  stopped 
and  built  up  the  broad  middle  ridge  through  which  the  Illinois  River 
has  cut.  This  is  called  the  "Champaign  Moraine."  At  the  last  stop 
of  the  ice  sheet  in  this  region,  the  divide  between  Lake  Michigan 
and  the  Illinois  River  Basin  was  deposited.  This  is  called  the 
"Valparaiso  Moraine."  Between  these  moraine  ridges  are  broad 
shallow  valleys,  where  less  drift  was  deposited.  These  valleys  made 
good  reservoirs  for  collecting  and  holding  the  great  quantities  of 
water  ;  and  where  there  was  no  sufficient  outlet  from  them,  shallow 
lakes  or  marshes  were  formed,  into  which  fine  silt  soil  washed  and 
was  deposited  on  the  bottom,  covering  up  the  clay  drift.  When 
rivers  cut  through  the  moraines  and  drained  these  lakes,  a  fine  rich 
silt  soil  was  left,  which  makes  the  best  farming  land  in  the  state. 
In  many  places  throughout  the  state  small  lakes  were  left,  sur- 
rounded by  moraines  in  such  a  way  that  rivers  did  not  drain  them, 
and  swamps  resulted.  These  have  since  had  to  be  drained  artificially 
before  farmers  could  make  use  of  the  soil. 

In  all  that  part  of  the  state  once  covered  by  the  ice  sheet  the 


8 


ILLINOIS   STATF-:   XI' 1'1'LEM  K\T 


land  is  rolling, with  gradually  sloping  hills  and  with  shallow  valleys 
between.  The  soil  on  top  of  tliese  hills  and  in  the  very  shallow 
valleys  is  usually  drift  clay  which  was  left  by  the  glacier,  but  which 
has  now  become  darkened  on  the  surface  by  decaying  vegetsitiou. 
The  drift  soil  is  easily  worn  away  when  the  water  runs  over  it, 
and  for  this  reason  the  many  rivers  of  the  state  have  the  general 
characteristic  of  wide  valleys,  with  broad  flood-plains  of  silt  and 
vsand  soil  along  their  courses. 

This  is  not  true  of  those  areas  in  the  southern  and  northwestern 
parts  of  the  state,  where  there  is  no  drift.     In  these  regions  the  bed- 


FIG.  10. 
A  river  and  its  flood-plain  in  the  glaciated  region.     (Thebes,  Illinois.) 

rock  comes  near  the  surface,  being  covered  only  by  a  thin  residual 
soil  formed  by  the  decay  of  rock  underneath.  Streams  cut  slowly 
through  this  limestone  bed,  and  the  valleys  are  narrow  and  deep, 
without  flood-plains.  Such  valleys  are  called  canyons,  and  are  plen- 
tiful in  the  non-glaciated  areas  of  the  state.  This  wearing  away  of 
the  rock  makes  rugged,  precipitous  hills,  very  different  from  the 
rolling  prairie  land  of  the  rest  of  the  state. 

These  various  soils  and  their  elevation  determine  very  largely 
what  kinds  of  crops  can  be  best  grown  in  the  different  regions. 
Wheat  grows  best  in  the  silt  soil  in  the  valleys,  where  it  does  not  dry 
out  too  rapidly,  or  in  the  old  lake  and  swamp  bottoms  left  between 


A    GENERAL    VIEW 


FIG.  11. 


the  moraines  where 
silt  was  deposited 
when  the  lake  cov- 
ered the  land. 
Corn  grows  in  such 
places  too,  but  it 
grows  well  also  on 
the  higher  clay  soil 
where  wheat  rais- 
ing is  not  profita- 
ble. So  much  of 
the  soil  of  Illinois 
is  of  the  latter  de- 
scription, that  corn 

is  the  largest  Crop      Characteristic  river  valley  in  the  non-glaciated  region  near  Rock 

in   the    state,   and  Spring8' Illinois-  v 

Illinois  ranks  first  among  the  corn -producing  states.     Grass  grows 

well  on  these  highlands  and  makes 
good  hay.  Where  corn  and  hay 
crops  abound,  cattle  and  hogs  are 
always  profitably  raised.  The 
value  of  the  farm  animals  of  Illi- 
nois is  greater  than  that  of  any 
other  state  except  Iowa.  (See 
Figs.  228  and  229,  Complete  Geog- 
raphy.)^ 

Tr^es  grow  in  the  soil  and  cli- 
mate of  Illinois  wherever  they  are 
planted,  yet  the  vast  rolling  prai- 
ries are  almost  destitute  of  trees. 
As  a  rule,  trees  are  to  be  found  only 
in  the  valleys  bordering  streams, 
but  now  and  then  a  grove  of  old 
trees  will  be  found  in  a  protected 
place  on  the  higher  land. 

The  growth   of  fruit  is  more 
dependent  upon  the  climate  than 
FIG.  12.  upon  the  soil.      Fruit  is  usually 

Map  showing  proportional  distribution  and      raised    upon    slopes   of    land  where 
regions  best  fitted  for  raising  chief  agri-  .  -,    •>      • 

cultural  products.  good  air  and  drainage  can  be  had. 


10 


ILLINOIS  STATE  SUPPLEMENT 


The  north  and  south  slopes  from  the  Ozark  Hills  are  well  fitted  for 
fruit  culture,  and  it  is  mainly  due  to  social  conditions  that  more  fruit 
is  not  raised  here. 

Climate.  —  Although  the  state  is  far  from  level,  there  are  no  sur- 
face elevations  within  its  borders  which  are  of  sufficient  height  to 
have  much  effect  upon  its  climate.  Lake  Michigan  has  a  slightly 
moderating  effect  on  the  land  bordering  it.  Most  of  the  storms  of 
the  region,  however,  come  from  the  west  and  are  not  greatly  affected 
by  the  lake  until  after  they  pass  Illinois.  Those  factors  which 
largely  determine  the  climate  of  Illinois  are  :  (1)  its  distance  in 
location  north  of  the  equator ;  (2)  its  location  on  the  continent ; 
(3)  its  location  in  relation  to  the  storm  tracks. 

By  referring  to  the  United  States  map  (Fig.  44,  Complete  Geography) 
find  what  parallel  passes  near  the  centre  of  the  state.  Where  is  the  par- 
allel that  marks  half  the  distance  between  the  equator  and  the  north  pole  ? 
Is  Illinois  nearer  the  pole  or  the  equator  ? 


FIG.  13. 

The  usual  storm  tracks  in  the  United  States  and  their  relation  to  northern  and  southern 

Illinois. 

For  a  little  time  each  year  Illinois  is  more  directly  under  the  sun 
than  the  equator  is  at  that  time,  and  then  it  is  usually  warmer  than 
the  average  temperature  at  the  equator.  (What  time  of  the  year  is 
this  ?)  On  the  other  hand,  when  our  days  are  shortest  it  is  colder 
than  it  is  in  summer  as  far  north  as  man  has  gone.  If  a  record  of 
the  temperature  in  the  centre  of  the  state  were  kept  for  every  hour 
throughout  the  year,  the  average  would  be  about  53  degrees,  but  the 


A   GENERAL    VIEW  11 

thermometer  has  registered  as  high  as  106  degrees  and  as  low  as  22 
degrees  below  zero.  However,  the  influence  of  the  sun  is  not  all  that 
determines  the  climate  of  the  state.  Most  of  California  is  situated 
in  the  same  latitude  as  Illinois,  yet  there  it  never  gets  as  warm  or  as 
cold  as  it  does  here.  This  difference  is  due  to  the  location  of  Illinois 
on  the  continent.  California's  storms  come  from  over  the  Pacific 
Ocean  and  are  tempered  by  that  great  body  of  water.  Most  of  the 
storms  that  reach  Illinois  have  come  over  the  Rocky  Mountains  and 
have  swept  over  the  great  plains.  These  broad,  unprotected  plains 
warm  up  and  cool  off  rapidly,  so  that  winds  blowing  over  them  will 
be  very  hot  at  one  time  and  very  cold  at  another.  This  accounts  in 
a  great  measure  for  the  sudden  changes  in  temperature  and  weather  in 
Illinois.  You  will  see  by  the  map,  Fig.  13,  that  there  are  three  great 
storm  tracks  in  the  United  States  which  mark  the  directions  in  which 
weather  changes  travel.  Notice  the  position  which  Illinois  occupies 
in  relation  to  these.  About  75  per  cent  of  the  storms  which  affect 
Illinois  have  followed  the  track  from  the  northwest  and  are  apt  to 
bring  very  cold  weather  in  winter  and  hot,  dry  winds  in  summer. 
The  other  storms  from  the  southwest  and  south  are  always  warming. 
There  is  hardly  a  state  in  the  nation,  outside  of  New  England,  which 
is  subject  to  so  many  and  such  sudden  changes  of  weather  as 
Illinois. 

Variation  within  the  State.  —  What  parallel  forms  the  northern  boundary 
of  Illinois  ?  To  what  parallel  does  the  southern  extremity  extend  ?  One 
degree  on  the  meridian  corresponds  to  about  69  miles;  then  how  many 
miles  long  is  Illinois  from  north  to  south  ? 

Extending  through  so  many  miles  of  latitude,  we  would  expect 
to  find  quite  a  difference  existing  between  the  northern  and  southern 
parts  of  the  state.  The  variation  is  greater  than  it  would  otherwise 
be  because  the  southern  part  of  the  state  lies  more  frequently  in  the 
track  of  the  southern  storms,  while  the  northern  part  receives  for 
the  most  part  only  the  variable  storms  from  the  northwest.  As  the 
result,  the  northern  part  has  severe  winters  with  sudden  changes  of 
temperature,  as  compared  with  the  southern  part. 

Between  the  two  sections  a  seasonal  difference  of  about  three 
weeks  exists.  The  average  difference  in  annual  temperature  be- 
tween the  extreme  north  and  the  extreme  south  is  about  11 
degrees.  The  last  killing  frost  seldom  comes  later  than  April  1  in 
the  southern  section,  while  north  of  the  41st  parallel  it  may  be 


ILLINOIS   RTATK   Nl'I'l'LKM K\T 


expected  as  late  as  April  23.  It  is  these  differences  of  temperature 
that  make  it  possible  to  raise  quantities  of  fruit  in  the  southern  part, 
while  in  the  north  full  crops  of  fruit  can  be  expected  only  in  excep- 
tional years  and  in  well-protected  places. 

The  warmer  southern  storms,  which  pass  over  southern  Illinois, 
usually  turn  east  before  reaching  the  northern  part  of  the  state.  (See 
Fig.  13.)  As  they  advance  toward  the  north,  they  cool,  condense  the 


FIG.  14. 
Average  annual  temperatures  in  Illinois. 


FIG.  15. 
Average  annual  rainfall  in  Illinois. 


moisture  in  the  atmosphere,  and  cause  rain.  For  this  reason  south- 
ern Illinois  receives  about  10  inches  more  rain  during  the  year  than 
the  northern  part  of  the  state.  The  average  rainfall  for  the  whole 
state  during  one  year  is  about  38  inches.  The  region  just  west  of 
the  lake  receives  an  increased  rainfall,  due  to  its  nearness  to  the 
water  body.  The  climate  of  the  entire  state  is  such  as  to  make  it 
exceedingly  productive.  There  is  no  place  which  is  arid. 


CHAPTER   II 
PHYSIOGRAPHICAL  REGIONS 

Lake  Michigan  Drainage  Region.  The  Chicago  Plain.  —  That  little 
northeastern  corner  of  the  state  which  drains  into  Lake  Michigan, 
and  which  is  separated  by  the  Valparaiso  moraine  from  the  great 


FIG.  16. 

The  Chicago  Plain  as  it  exists  to-day, 
showing  the  level  land  left  hy  the 
retreat  of  the  water. 


FIG.  17. 

The  Chicago  Plain,  showing  the  lake  cov- 
ering the  present  site  of  Chicago. 


Mississippi  Basin,  was  dependent  almost  entirely  for  its  peculiar  for- 
mation upon  the  effects  of  the  ice  sheet. 

After  the  ice  sheet  had  remained  for  many  years  with  its  front 
piling  up  the  drift  that  made  the  Valparaiso   moraine,  it   melted 

13 


14  ILLINOIS  STATE  SUPPLEMENT 

slowly  away  until  its  front  rested  across  Lake  Michigan.  The  water 
could  not  run  from  the  lake  north  as  it  does  now,  for  the  northern 
outlet  was  filled  by  the  ice  sheet.  The  water  rose  over  the  land 
until  it  reached  the  top  of  the  moraine,  then  it  flowed  over  the  lowest 
part  in  the  moraine  (640  feet  above  the  sea  level),  and,  rushing 
through  this,  tumbled  down  the  other  side,  cutting  a  channel  to  the 
Illinois  River,  and  then  flowed  in  a  great  stream  diagonally  across 
the  state  to  the  Mississippi  River.  In  this  way  it  happened  that  for 
many  years  the  Chicago  plain,  where  Chicago  now  stands,  was  the 
level  bottom  of  the  lake.  As  the  ice  sheet  melted  back  farther  north, 
the  water  of  the  lake  gradually  fell,  leaving  the  old  bottom  with 
sandy  beaches,  exposed  as  lowland.  (See  Figs.  16  and  17.)  After 
the  lake  fell  too  low  to  flow  through  its  old  outlet,  a  small  river  took 
its  place  and  ran  from  the  top  of  the  Valparaiso  moraine  across  the 
state  to  help  form  the  Illinois  River.  This  is  called  the  Des  Plainer 
River.  This  low,  crescent-shaped  Chicago  plain  then  drained  off  into 
Lake  Michigan  through  the  Chicago  River,  one  branch  of  which  rose 
in  the  old  channel  of  the  former  outlet  of  the  lake.  Thus  there 
was  left  but  a  short  distance,  about  a  mile,  of  lowland  betAveen  the 
Des  Plaines  and  Chicago  rivers,  to  separate  the  waters  of  Lake 
Michigan  from  its  old  outlet  into  the  Illinois  River.  In  1900  this 
lowland  was  dug  deeper,  making  it  so  low  that  Lake  Michigan 
flowed  into  the  Chicago  River  and  out  through  its  old  outlet  into  the 
Des  Plaines  and  Illinois  rivers.  So  now  Lake  Michigan  flows 
through  its  old  outlet  in  an  artificial  channel,  the  Chicago  Sanitary 
Canal.  (See  page  2.) 

All  of  the  state,  except  this  little  northeast  corner,  lies  in  the 
great  Mississippi  Basin ;  that  is,  all  of  the  other  rivers  of  the  state 
are  naturally  tributary  to  the  Mississippi  River.  The  Illinois  River 
Basin  is  by  far  the  largest  of  the  state.  It  extends  diagonally  across 
the  state  from  the  Valparaiso  moraine  to  the  Mississippi  River.  Its 
average  width  from  divide  to  divide  is  120  miles.  The  southern  slope 
is  nearly  twice  as  broad  as  the  northern.  (See  Figs.  1  and  2.)  The 
Illinois  River  really  originates  in  the  Des  Plaines,  which  rises  just 
over  the  state  line  in  Wisconsin,  on  the  Valparaiso  moraine.  The 
Des  Plaines  flows  through  the  Valparaiso  moraine,  at  the  old  lake  out- 
let, with  falls  and  rapids,  descending  several  feet  in  a  few  miles. 
It  is  joined  by  the  Kankakee  River,  and  continues  flowing  southwest, 
as  the  Illinois  River,  and  cuts  through  the  Champaign  moraine. 

North  of  .the  Illinois  River,  Grass  and  Fox  lakes,  near  the  state 


16  ILLINOIS   STATE  SUPPLEMENT 

line,  are  remains  of  the  old  glacial  lakes  in  this  region  and  are 
drained  by  the  Fox  River.  The  Illinois  River  flows  through  a  deep 
channel  considerably  wider  than  the  present  bed  of  the  river.  For 
long  distances  the  channel  is 'cut  through  the  bed-rock,  exposing 
ledges  of  limestone  and  the  coal  layers.  A  broad  flood-plain  of 
fine  silt  soil  forms  the  floor  of  the  valley  on  each  side  of  the  stream. 
The  divide  between  the  Illinois  Basin  and  the  Rock  River  Basin 
on  its  north  is  the  highest  divide  in  the  state,  averaging  850  feet 
above  the  sea  level.  In  one  place  where  the  Big  Bureau  River  flows, 
the  divide  is  very  low,  and  the  Mississippi  may  have  at  one  time 
flowed  through  here  into  the  Illinois  River.  This  large  stream  left 
a  rich  soil  covering  the  surface  which  makes  the  region  around  the 
Bureau  River  the  most  productive  in  the  state.  It  is  through  this 
region  that  the  "  Hennepin  Canal,"  which  connects  the  Illinois  and 
Mississippi  rivers,  is  being  constructed. 

After  the  Illinois  River  flows  through  the  Champaign  moraine, 
its  valley  suddenly  widens  so  that  in  places  it  is  18  miles  wide. 
This  large  flood-plain,  covered  with  its  rich  silt,  makes  rich  farm 
land.  The  Sangamon  River  drains  more  Illinois  land  than  any  other 
branch  of  the  Illinois  River.  The  soil  of  this  Sangamon  region  is 
glacial  drift  except  where  silt  and  sand  have  been  deposited  in  the 
flood-plains.  The  last  quarter  of  the  Illinois  River  flows  almost 
directly  south,  nearly  parallel  to  the  Mississippi  River  for  60  milesj 
before  it  finds  a  place  to  get  around  the  limestone  ridge  which  lies 
along  the  western  border  of  the  state. 

The  Illinois  River  is  navigable  for  three-fourths  of  its  length,  and 
its  lower  portion  accommodates  most  Mississippi  boats.  How  much 
of  the  Illinois  Basin  has  coal  underlying  it?  (See  Fig.  6.) 

The  Rock  River  Basin  may  be  said  to  include  all  that  part  of  the 
state  lying  north  of  the  Illinois  River  Basin,  except  a  small  portion 
of  the  land  in  the  extreme  northwest,  which  drains  directly  into  the 
Mississippi  by  several  short,  swift-running  streams.  This  is  the 
highest  basin  in  the  state.  Near  its  northwestern  corner  on 
the  Wisconsin  state  line,  about  25  miles  from  the  Mississippi,  is 
Charles  Mound,  the  highest  point  in  the  state.  It  is  1275  feet 
above  the  sea,  and  600  feet  above  the  Mississippi,  directly  west. 
This  little  triangular  corner  of  the  state  is  peculiar  in  that  the  ice 
sheet  did  not  cover  it  at  any  time,  so  the  old  surface  appears  just 
as  it  did  before  the  glacial  period,  except  that  it  has  been  weathered 
and  worn  down.  The  soil  does  not  cover  the  surface  deeply,  and 


PHYSIOGRAPHICAL   REGIONS  17 

of  course  is  not  drift,  but  residual  soil,  being  formed  by  the  decay 
of  the  limestone  bed-rock.  The  rivers  have  worn  deep  canyon-like 
valleys  through  the  rock  with  abrupt  sides  unlike  the  river  valleys 
in  the  glaciated  portion  of  the  state.  The  hills  are  not  rolling,  but 
have  abrupt  rugged  slopes.  A  good  supply  of  lead  and  some  zinc  are  \ 
found  in  this  little  corner,  though  much  less  is  being  mined  there 
now  than  formerly. 

The  Rock  River  has  its  origin  in  Wisconsin  and  flows  almost 
directly  south  and  enters  Illinois  in  a  deep  valley  which  it  has  cut 
through  the  drift  and  bed-rock.  As  it  enters  the  state,  it  is  joined 
by  the  Pecatonica,  which  originates  in  the  non-glaciated  region 
of  Wisconsin.  From  the  highland  along  the  upper  part  of  its 
course,  the  Rock  River  falls  very  rapidly,  and  in  the  lower  half  of 
its  course  the  basin  is  comparatively  low.  The  liver  valley  is  not 
well  marked,  the  land  sloping  gradually  back  from  the  stream.  Be- 
tween the  Rock  River  and  its  main  southern  tributary,  the  Green 
River,  the  land  is  so  free  from  slopes  as  to  be  poorly  drained  and 
much  of  it  is  occupied  by  swamps.  This  lower  basin,  as  you  would 
suspect,  is  well  covered  with  flood-plain  soil  or  silt,  making  a  rich 
farming  land  where  it  is  drained,  while  the  soil  of  the  upper  basin 
in  a  few  places  in  the  extreme  southern  portion  is  mainly  clay  de- 
posited by  the  glacier.  Except  in  a  few  places  in  the  extreme 
southern  portion,  the  bed-rock  in  this  basin  does  not  contain  any 
coal. 

The  Kaskaskia  River  Basin.  —  The  Kaskaskia  River  rises  in  the 
central  part  of  the  southern  slope  of  the  Champaign  moraine,  but  is 
kept  from  flowing  into  the  Illinois  River  by  a  peninsula-like  extension 
of  the  moraine.  The  Kaskaskia  Basin  is  a  long,  narrow,  triangular 
trough.  On  its  northwest  lies  the  Illinois  Basin,  and  on  its  southwest, 
for  nearly  the  whole  distance,  lies  the  Wabash  Basin.  The  divide 
between  the  head  of  the  Kaskaskia  Basin  and  the  Wabash  Basin  is 
formed  by  the  Shelby  ville  moraine.  The  Kaskaskia  River  cuts  through 
the  western  end  of  the  Shelbyville  moraine.  South  of  this  moraine 
the  divide  is  low,  and  on  its  top  the  Big  Muddy  River  rises  and  lias 
cut  a  short  basin  of  its  own  between  the  Kaskaskia  and  the  Wabash 
basins.  The  Kaskaskia  Basin  has  short  slopes  on  its  side  drained  by 
short  tributaries  running  through  broad  valleys.  The  southern  half 
of  the  basin  is  low,  and  most  of  the  land  is  covered  with  a  rich 
alluvial  soil,  which  has  been  spread  over  the  surface  by  old  floods 
and  by  the  continual  washing  down  of  the  surface  from  the  higher 


18  ILLINOIS  STATE  SUPPLEMENT 

land  surrounding.  The  higher  land,  in  the  northern  part  of  the 
basin,  is  drift  clay  deposited  by  the  ice  sheet.  On  account  of  its 
long  north  and  south  extent  and  these  differences  in  soil,  the  north 
portion  produces  mainly  corn  and  hay,  while  wheat  and  fruit  grow 
well  in  the  southern  part.  The  Kaskaskia  Basin  lies  almost  wholly 
within  the  coal  region,  and  a  great  deal  of  coal  is  mined. 

The  Big  Muddy  River  Basin.  —  The  Big  Muddy  River  Basin  is  a 
short,  triangular  basin  drained  by  the  Big  Muddy  River  and  its  two 
tributaries,  the  Little  Muddy  River  and  the  Beaucoup  Creek.  These 
rise  in  the  divide  which  separates  the  basin  from  the  Kaskaskia  Basin 
on  the  west  and  the  Wabash  on  the  east.  The  character  of  the 
basin  is  almost  identical  with  the  southern  portion  of  the  Kaskaskia 
Basin,  low,  flat  land,  with  few  elevations  except  the  limestone  rim 
along  the  Mississippi  and  the  high,  almost  mountainous,  divide  on  its 
south,  which  turns  the  river  away  from  it  into  the  Mississippi  River. 
The  southern  part  of  this  basin  marks  the  southern  extent  of  the  ice 
sheet.  In  this  basin  the  coal  layers  come  very  near  the  surface. 
The  soil  is  mainly  drift  clay  in  the  upper  part  of  the  basin  and  a  line, 
pervious  silt  in  its  lower  portion.  That  part  of  Illinois  lying 
south  of  this  basin,  including  the  ridge  of  high  hills,  which  here  runs 
east  and  west  across  the  state,  is  non-glaciated  country. 

The  Wabash  River  Basin. — The  Wabash  River  Basin  includes 
most  of  the  state  of  Indiana  and  nearly  all  of  the  eastern  part  of  Illi- 
nois. This  part  of  Illinois  forms  the  western  slope  of  the  Wabash* 
River,  and  is  drained  by  three  large  tributaries  of  the  Wabash.  The 
Big  Vermilion  River  rises  on  the  north  side  of  the  Champaign 
moraine,  flows  through  this  moraine,  and  joins  the  Wabash  about 
40  miles  north  of  where  it  begins  to  form  the  state  boundary.  This 
part  of  the  slope  is  high,  rolling  prairie  land  with  a  well-drained 
clay  soiL  The  Embarras  River  rises  on  the  southern  slope  of  the 
Champaign  moraine  near  the  origin  of  the  Kaskaskia,  but  flows  away 
from  it,  cutting  through  the  Shelby ville  moraine.  It  then  flows 
rapidly  south  through  lower,  flatter  country  which  resembles  the 
country  of  the  lower  Kaskaskia  Basin,  and  finally  enters  the  low, 
broad  valley  of  the  Wabash. 

The  soil  drained  by  the  upper  portion  of  the  Wabash  River  is 
thick  glacial  drift,  except  here  and  there  where  glacial  lakes  and 
swamps  stood  long  enough  to  cause  a  covering  of  silt.  In  its  lower 
basin,  much  of  the  land  has  the  appearance  of  broad,  flat,  alluvial 
plains,  composed  of  silt,  with  sand  and  gravel  underneath.  "The 


PHYSIOGRAPHICAL    REGIONS  19 

more  southern  portion  of  this  Wabash  slope  is  drained  by  the  Little 
Wabash  River.  It  rises  on  the  southern  slope  of  the  Shelbyville 
moraine  and  flows  almost  directly  south,  down  the  gradual  slope  to 
the  lowlands,  joining  the  Wabash  just  before  it  empties  into  the 
Ohio.  The  land  drained  by  the  Little  Wabash  River  is  low  and 
resembles  very  closely  the  lower  basins  of  the  Kaskaskia  and  Big 
Muddy  rivers.  Coal  is  not  found  in  any  quantity  on  this  slope  of 
the  Wabash,  except  in  the  lower  part  of  the  Little  Wabash  Basin. 
The  land  lying  along  the  Wabash  River  and  forming  its  valley  is 
covered  with  silt  and  sand.  The  relief  map  shows  that  there  is  a 
stretch  of  very  low  land  extending  east  and  west  across  the  state 
from  the  mouth  of  the  Big  Muddy  to  the  mouth  of  the  Wabash,  but 
south  of  this  lowland  is  the  high  ridge  of  the  Ozark  Hills  which  you 
have  before  observed.  These 
mark  the  southern  non-gla- 
ciated region. 

The  Southern  Non-glaciated 
Region.  —  In  going  from  that 
northern  portion  of  the  state 
which  has  been  so  affected  by 
the  ice  sheet  into  this  non- 
glaciated  region,  one  notices 
at  once  a  great  change  in 
the  soil  and  surface  structure  FIG.  19. 

of    the    land.        The    high   hills       Characteristic    view    in    the    southern    non- 
glaciated  section  of  Illinois, 
are   but   thinly  covered   with 

yellowish  residual  soil.  The  limestone  crops  out  everywhere  in 
great,  worn,  broken  ledges  of  rock.  The  small  streams,  unmo- 
lested by  the  glacier,  have  cut  deep  canyons  in  the  rock.  The 
surface  of  the  bed-rock  where  it  is  exposed  is  not  smoothed  off  as 
in  most  of  the  state,  but  like  that  of  the  non-glaciated  corner 
in  the  northwest,  it  has  decayed  into  pieces  and  presents  a  rough, 
chipped  surface.  Because  the  ice  sheet  has  not  worn  down  the 
hills,  they  stand  as  abrupt  peaks  and  not  gradual  rolling  mounds 
as  in  the  centre  of  the  state.  This  line  of  hills  averages  about 
800  feet  in  height,  rising  abruptly  from  the  lowlands  on  the  north. 
The  second  highest  point  in  the  state  is  in  this  ridge  of  hills.  It 
is  985  feet  above  the  sea  level  and  about  685  feet  above  the  Mis- 
sissippi River,  only  a  few  miles  directly  west.  From  this  high  ridge 
the  land  slopes  more  gradually,  in  rough  terraces,  to  the  Ohio  and 


20  ILLINOIS  STATE  SUPPLEMENT 

Mississippi  rivers  on  the  south,  until  it  reaches  the  lowest  point  in 
the  state  in  its  most  southern  extremity.  This  point  is  but  300  feet 
above  the  sea  level,  and  so  low  and  level  that  the  Mississippi  and 
Ohio  rivers  overflow  it  at  high  water. 

No  large  rivers  drain  this  non-glaciated  region,  but  many  small 
inland  swamps  abound.  The  soil  in  the  hilly  portions  is  thin  and 
unproductive,  but  into  the  more  level  lands  a  great  deal  of  silt  and 
sand  has  been  washed  and  made  many  pockets  of  rich  farm  land. 
All  along  the  Ohio  River  is  a  broad,  flat  flood -plain  with  the  richest 
kind  of  soil,  extending  Uack  into  the  state  for  an  average  of  fifteen 
miles,  much  like  the  flood-plain  which  borders  the  Mississippi  River 
most  of  the  way  along  the  western  border  of  the  state.  This  region 
is  especially  adapted  to  fruit  raising. 


CHAPTER    III 
HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS 

The  Indian  Period.  — No  man. knows  how  long  the  Indians  had 
used  the  broad,  rolling  prairies  of  Illinois  for  their  hunting  grounds, 
and  lived  along  the  rivers  in  little  villages  of  tepees.  But  when 
the  first  white  men  came  into  this  part  of  the  country,  they  found 


Fiu.  iiO. 
Indian  tribes  in  Illinois,  1700. 


FIG.  IM. 
Indian  tribes  in  Illinois,  17(H>. 


several  strong  tribes  of  Indians  occupying  the  land.  Each  tribe 
claimed  a  river  basin  for  its  own,  so  that  what  is  now  Illinois  was 
really  divided  up  into  several  Indian  states,  and  the  divides  between 

the  river  basins  formed  the  irregular  boundaries  between  these  Indian 

0  i 

states. 

21 


22  ILLINOIS  STATE  SUPPLEMENT 

By  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century  the  English  people 
had  crowded  the  Indians  out  of  the  land  east  of  the  Alleghanies. 
The  French  had  built  their  towns  all  along  the  St.  Lawrence  and 
were  beginning  to  start  settlements  around  the  Great  Lakes.  These 
early  French  settlers  were  getting  rich,  trading  for  furs  with  the 
Indians.  They  kept  sending  exploring  parties  farther  and  farther 
west  to  the  new  trading  posts,  and  with  each  exploring  party  went 
priests  to  make  friends  with  the  Indians  and  to  convert  them  to 
Christianity.  So  it  happened  that  in  1673  a  young  Frenchman 
named  Joliet  and  a  kindly  old  priest  called  Father  Marquette 
formed  a  party  with  five  other  men  and  started  from  the  mission 
of  St.  Ignace  opposite  the  island  of  Mackinac,  in  two  canoes,  to  find 
a  great  river  of  which  the  Indians  had  told  them.  Skirting  the 
northern  shores  of  Lake  Michigan,  they  entered  Green  Bay ;  follow- 
ing up  the  stream  as  far  as  they  could  go,  they  carried  their  canoes 
across  the  short  portage  and  put  them  into  the  Wisconsin  River. 
Floating  down-stream,  they  discovered  the  upper  Mississippi  River. 
The  first  Indians  they  met,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Des  Moines  River, 
called  themselves  "  Illini." 

To  them  the  word  "  Illini "  meant  men,  and  they  used  it  to  dis- 
tinguish their  more  civil  character  from  that  of  their  enemies,  whom 
they  called  beasts.  This  name  clung  to  this  tribe  of  Indians,  and 
from  it  came  the  name  of  the  state. 

Joliet  and  Marquette  followed  the  Mississippi  down  nearly  to  its 
mouth  and  then  paddled  back  up  the  stream  to  the  Illinois  River. 
They  toiled  up  the  stream  until  they  came  to  the  large  village  of 
the  Kaskaskia  Indians l  near  Starved  Rock,  where  Utica  now  stands. 
Thence  they  went  up  the  Illinois  and  Des  Plaines  rivers  to  the 
divide,  where  they  had  to  carry  their  canoes  over  into  the  Chicago 
River.  "  It  was  in  the  month  of  September  when  they  arrived  at 
the  place,  then  a  broad  waste  of  grass  and  prairie  flowers  channelled 
by  two  lazy  streams  that  met  from  opposite  directions  and,  united, 
flowed  into  or  rather  formed  a  connection  with  the  lake.  This  was 
Chicago  as  nature  made  it  and  as  these  men,  who  were  unques- 
tionably its  first  discoverers,  saw  it." 

In  the  fall  Marquette  attempted  to  return  to  the  Kaskaskia  vil- 
lage. He  found  the  Chicago  River  frozen,  and  was  taken  ill  and 
forced  to  build  a  cabin  near  the  source  of  the  south  branch  of  the 

1  The  Illinois  nation  was  made  up  of  five  tribes,  —  Kaskaskia,  Cochokias,  Tamaroos, 
Peorias,  and  Metchigamis. 


HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS  23 

river,  where  he  remained  over  the  winter.  This  cabin  was  the  first 
structure  on  the  Chicago  plain,  and  the  first  built  by  a  white  man  in 
Illinois. 

Period  of  French  Settlement.  —  La  Salle  was  the  next  French- 
man to  explore  the  territory.  He  brought  soldiers  with  him  and 
built  the  first  fort  (1680)  on  the  south  end  of  Peoria  Lake,  just 
across  the  river  from  where  Peoria  now  stands.  La  Salle  called 
this  Fort  Creve  Coeur  (Broken  Heart)  in  memory  of  the  hardships  he 
and  his  men  had  undergone.  La  Salle  claimed  all  of  this  country 
for  France,  and  appointed  his  friend  Tonty  to  be  its  governor. 
Tonty  was  the  first  civilized  ruler  of  any  kind  in  this  region. 

French  fur  traders  began  to  come  into  the  country  and  form 
little  settlements  along  the  Illinois  River.  The  French  settled  down 
among  the  Illinois  Indians  and  made  friends  with  them,  but  the 
other  tribes  of  Indians  often  made  war  excursions  into  the  territory, 
so  it  was  necessary  for  the  French  to  build  forts  wherever  they  set- 
tled in  numbers.  The  summit  of  Starved  Rock  was  a  naturally 
protected  place,  and  the  French  fortified  it  and  named  it  Fort 
St.  Louis. 

The  Frenchmen  were  not  all  traders,  but  many  of  the  men  married 
the  Indian  women  and  settled  down  to  till  the  soil.  Little  villages 
of  French  and  Indians  began  to  grow  up  along  the  Kaskaskia  River. 
In  1700  a  large  village  grew  up  around  the  post  and  mission  near 
the  mouth  of  the  Kaskaskia  River,  on  the  Mississippi  flood-plain. 
This  plaee»received  the  name  of  Kaskaskia  and  was  the  foundation 
of  the  present  place  of  that  name.  In  the  same  year  a  mission  was 
founded  at  Cahokia,  on  the  bluffs  of  the  highlands  overlooking  the 
Mississippi  Valley,  just  below  the  present  site  of  East  St.  Louis.  In 
1720  the  French  built  Fort  Chartres,  near  the  present  site  of  Prairie 
du  Rocher.  At  this  time  it  was  the  strongest  fort  in  North  America. 
(Only  a  portion  of  the  ruins  now  remain.  The  changing  course  of 
the  Mississippi  has  washed  away  most  of  it.) 

As  the  French  poured  into  Illinois,  these  settlements  grew  and 
many  new  ones  were  built.  One  of  the  settlements  grew  rapidly 
into  the  largest  French  village  of  the  region.  This  was  the  begin- 
ning of  St.  Louis.  It  was  destined  to  be  a  great  city  on  account  of 
the  advantageous  position  between  the  mouths  of  the  two  great  traffic 
streams,  the  Missouri  and  the  Ohio  rivers. 

All  of  the  French  settlements  were  not  made  along  the  Mississippi 
River,  however.  Vincennes  started  as  a  little  village  across  the 


24  ILLINOIS    STATE  SUPPLEMENT 

Wabash  River  from  what  is  now  the  most  eastern  extension  of 
Illinois.  Vincennes  soon  became  a  fortified  place  of  great  impor- 
tance to  Illinois,  as  it  commanded  one  of  the  important  routes  into 
the  Illinois  country. 

Struggle  for  Ownership.  —  No  boundary  line  had  ever  been  deter- 
mined between  the  English  possessions  along  the  Atlantic  coast  and 
the  French  possessions  along  the  Mississippi.  As  each  began  to 
extend  its  settlements,  a  collision  arose.  The  strong  Iroquois  Indians 
in  the  East,  aided  by  the  English,  now  came  into  the  Illinois  country 
and  made  war  against  the  Illinois  Indians  and  the  French.  This 
resulted  in  the  French  and  Indian  War,  which  lasted  from  1754  to 
1759.  It  was  really  a  war  between  France  and  England.  By  the 
final  treaty  all  the  land  east  of  the  Mississippi  and  north  of  the 
31st  parallel  was  ceded  to  England.  At  this  time,  however,  not  a 
single  English  settler  lived  in  the  region,  while  there  were  about 
2000  French. 

One  of  the  first  things  the  United  States  did,  after  the  Declaration 
of  Independence,  was  to  send  troops  to  force  the  surrender  of  the  old 
French  forts.  Colonel  George  Rogers  Clark,  a  Virginian,  was  the 
shrewd  hero  who  captured  these  forts,  and,  still  more,  pacified  the 
French  settlers  and  their  Indian  friends,  making  them  content  with 
the  American  authority.  About  this  time,  Virginia,  who  claimed 
all  land  lying  west  to  the  Mississippi  River,  issued  a  proclamation 
organizing  all  of  this  region  into  a  county  of  Virginia,  to  be  called 
"  Illinois  County."  A  governor  was  appointed  and  Kaskaskia  was 
selected  as  the  capital. 

Period  of  American  Settlement.  —  The  governor  of  Virginia  offered 
inducements  for  American  settlers  to  occupy  land  in  her  Illinois  terri- 
tory, and  very  soon  the  Americans  began  to  flock  in.  These  early 
settlers  were  mainly  from  the  Southern  colonies.  So  the  southern 
part  of  the  state,  especially  the  Kaskaskia  Basin,  was  the  first  to  be 
settled  by  Americans.  The  new  settlers  lived  on  their  farms  and 
refused  to  be  friendly  with  the  Indians,  and  many  Indian  battles 
and  constant  trouble  resulted. 

In  1784  Virginia  ceded  her  Illinois  county  to  the  United  States, 
and  all  of  what  is  now  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Michigan,  and  Wis- 
consin was  organized  into  the  Northwest  Territory.  All  land  so  far 
purchased  from  the  Indians  was  surveyed  by  Congress  and  offered 
for  sale  to  settlers.  Counties  were  laid  off  in  the  southern  part  of 
the  state  and  justi.ces  of  the  peace  appointed  by  the  villagers.  This 


HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS     ^  25 

was  the  beginning  of  the  organized  government.  The  rapid  settle- 
ment led  to  rapid  division  of  the  territory  into  smaller  parts.  In 
1809  Indian  Territory  was  divided,  and  Illinois,  Wisconsin,  and 
Peninsular  Michigan  were  organized  into  Illinois  Territory  with  its 
capital  at  Kaskaskia. 

War  of  1812. — The  English,  who  had  never  really  withdrawn 
their  troops  from  Fort  Detroit,  continually  encouraged  the  Indians 
to  attack  the  American  settlers.  The  Indians  made  frequent  excur- 
sions into  Illinois.  To  prevent  this,  in  1803  Fort  Dearborn  was 
built  on  the  south  bank  of  the  main  branch  of  the  Chicago  River. 
During  the  War  of  1812,  the  British  in  Canada  made  every  possible 
use  of  the  Indians.  At  the  point  where  18th  Street,  Chicago,  now 
terminates  at  the  lake,  the  American  garrison  which  had  vacated 
Fort  Dearborn  were  set  upon  by  five  times  their  number  of  Pottawat- 
omies.  A  horrible  massacre  followed,  which  resulted  in  the  killing 
or  the  capture  of  the  entire  American  force.  The  Indian  and  French 
village  at  Peoria  was  ruthlessly  burned  by  the  Americans.  The 
whole  state  was  threaded  with  little  battles  and  skirmishes  against 
the  British  arid  their  tools  the  Indians,  until  after  peace  was  declared 
in  1814,  when  the  British  entirely  withdrew. 

Period  of  Statehood.  —  By  1818  the  territory  now  included  in 
Illinois  claimed  45,000  inhabitants ;  admittance  to  the  Union  was 
applied  for  and  granted.  At  first  it  was  provided  that  the  state 
should  only  extend  as  far  north  as  a  line  drawn  west  from  the  south- 
ern extremity  4of  Lake  Michigan.  By  consistent  lobbying  this  was 
extended  to  its  present  boundary  at  42  degrees  30  minutes,  to 
include  a  strip  extending  51  miles  farther  north.  This  strip  of 
territory  was  destined  to  be  the  richest  part  of  the  state.  A  state 
organization  was  established,  with  a  capital  at  Kaskaskia.  In  1820 
it  was  decided  to  move  the  capital  to  Vandalia,  on  the  Kaskaskia 
River.  Nearly  all  of  the  inhabitants  had  come  from  the  South  and 
had  settled  in  the  southern  part  of  the  state.  Many  had  brought 
their  slaves  with  them,  but  the  majority  were  people  who  had  been 
crowded  out  of  the  South  because  they  were  financially  unable  to 
hold  slaves  and  would  not  be  dominated  by  the  wealthier  class.  The 
sentiment  seemed  about  evenly  divided  on  the  slavery  question. 
The  matter  was  settled  in  favor  of  freedom  by  a  popular  vote  in  1822. 
The  stand  once  taken  was  firmly  held  to.  This  is  evidenced  by  th<i 
fact  that  Illinois  gave  the  first  candidate  for  the  presidency  to  a 
national  antislavery  party,  and  later  gave  Abraham  Lincoln  and 


26  ILLINOIS  STATE  SUPPLEMENT 

Grant  to  lead  the  antislavery  cause  to  victory.  The  northern  part  of 
the  state  received  its  new  settlers  mainly  from  the  states  in  the  East, 
who  came  by  way  of  the  Lakes  and  made  Chicago  grow  as  a  trading 
and  junction  point.  This  attracted  people  to  the  northern  part  of 
the  state.  Added  to  these  attractions,  in  1827  lead  was  discovered 
in  easily  accessible  quantities  along  a  small  stream  —  Fever  River  — 
which  flows  through  the  hills  of  the  northwestern  part  of  the  state. 
A  great  rush  of  people  followed,  from  every  direction,  to  mine  this 
valuable  metal.  The  town  of  Galena,  with  many  little  outlying 
settlements,  sprang  into  existence. 

Before  the  War  of  1812  the  fear  of  Indians  and  the  ignorance 
of  the  country  caused  the  settlers  to  come  to  the  new  land  almost 
entirely  by  water,  but  the  partial  settlement  of  the  state  and  the 
Indian  defeats  during  the  war  had  removed  these  objections.  The 
emigrants  now  sought  roads  on  land.  These  early  emigrant  roads 
determined  the  later  settlement  of  the  state  to  a  large  extent.  They 
were  not  roads  in  the  sense  we  use  the  word  to-day,  but  rather  trails, 
whose  general  direction  led  to  an  objective  point.  These  emigrants 
travelled  in  great  covered  wagons.  Usually  several  families  would 
club  together  and  make  up  a  party  with  a  number  of  wagons  and  a 
herd  of  farm  animals.  As  they  hurried  across  the  country,  they 

\iaturally  chose  to  travel  along  the  highest  ridges  of  land,  where 
chey  could  keep  a  watch  over  the  surrounding  country  for  attacking 

•  parties  of  Indians ;  then,  too,  the  high  ground  was  better  drained 
and  made  travelling  easier.  For  the  most  part,  the  streams  had  to 
be  forded,  and  roads  generally  led  across  places  where  the  streams 
broadened  out  into  shallow  places.  Some  of  the  rivers  were  too 
large  to  ford,  and  it  was  necessary  to  ferry  across.  A  route  once 
used  formed  the  trail  which  the  next  party  naturally  followed  in 
going  the  same  direction,  and  so  a  few  well-worn  roads  were  estab- 
lished, running  through  the  state,  leading  to  a  few  popular  trading- 
posts,  or  into  some  favorable  region  which  was  opening  up  for 
settlement. 

In  the  southern  part  of  the  state,  most  of  the  roads  led  from  the 

I  Ohio  River  into  the  Kaskaskia  Basin,  which  was  at  this  time  (1820— 
1830)  the  most  densely  populated  part  of  the  state.  From  this 
region  and  throughout  the  centre  of  the  state,  the  roads  led  north 
into  the  new  country,  which  was  becoming  rapidly  settled  either 
toward  Chicago  in  one  corner,  or  Galena  in  the  other. 

In  the  northern  part  of  the  state,  the  roads  all  ran  east  and  west, 


HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS  27 

leading  from  Chicago  toward  the  Mississippi  or  into  the  lead-mining 
district  about  Galena.  Along  these  roads  new  settlements  sprang 
up,  which  were  destined  to  become  the  largest  cities  in  Illinois. 
Wherever  two  or  three  roads,  crossing,  made  an  advantageous  point 
for  a  trading-post,  some  pioneer  would  stop,  build  a  cabin  and  stock- 
ade, cultivate  the  land,  and  start  a  small  supply  store.  Others  would 
be  attracted  by  the  advantages  which  he  had  created  and  settle  near 
by.  Thus  many  Illinois  towns  started. 

Wherever  there  was  a  ford  over  the  stream  the  emigrants  often 
had  to  camp  to  await  a  time  when  the  water  should  be  low  enough 
to  permit  them  to  cross  in  safety.  Such  places  became  centres  for 
settlement.  Sometimes  a  grove  that  sheltered  a  fresh  spring  would 
prove  an  attractive  place,  and  would  soon  grow  into  a  settlement. 
The  roads,  which  ran  north  and  south,  always  followed  one  of  three 
routes :  (1)  along  the  divide  between  the  river  basins,  where  the 
travellers  would  have  the  advantage  of  the  highroad ;  (2)  along  the 
river  valleys,  which  had  been  well  settled  previously,  and  where 
the  traveller  might  depend  upon  the  protection  of  the  inhabitants ; 
or  (3)  following  along  the  crest  of  one  of  the  moraines. 

Many  of  the  early  settlers  were  among  the  most  industrious 
and  hardiest  people  from  the  old  Eastern  states.  They  were  used 
to  surmounting  difficulties,  and  no  task  seemed  too  great  for  their 
undertaking.  In  1837  they  determined  upon  a  policy  of  state 
improvements,  and  it  is  little  wonder  that  they  overdid  it.  Every 
county  attempted  to  get  something  out  of  the  state  coffers.  Great 
extravagance  ensued,  which  threw  the  state  under  a  heavy  debt  from 
which  it  did  not  recover  for  over  fifty  years.  The  capital  was  re- 
moved from  Vandalia  to  Springfield.  From  the  time  of  Joliet  to  the 
present  it  has  been  a  dream  to  have  the  waters  of  Lake  Michigan 
conducted  through  the  low  divide  into  the  Illinois  River,  to  make 
a  great  canal  which  would  allow  the  largest  ships  to  pass  from  the 
Lakes  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  After  ten  years  of  slow  progress  the 
Illinois-Michigan  Canal  was  opened  in  1848.  As  completed,  it  only 
allowed  small  canal-boats  to  ply  between  La  Salle  and  Chicago,  but 
this  gave  a  great  impetus  to  trade  throughout  that  part  of  the  state, 
and  with  the  increased  trade  which  was  beginning  to  come  by  the 
lake  did  much  to  develop  Chicago  and  the  cities  along  the  route  of 
the  canal. 

In  1848  the  first  locomotive  steamed  out  of  Chicago,  on  the  Galena 
and  Chicago  Union  Railway.  The  Illinois  Central,  the  next  line  to 


28 


ILLINOIS  STATE  SUPPLEMENT 


be  successfully  completed,  followed  some  old  roads  in  its  southern 
extension  diagonally  across  the  state.  In  1852  Chicago  was  con- 
nected with  the  East  by  rail,  the  Lake  Shore  and  Michigan  Southern 
and  the  Michigan  Central  Railroads  both  being  completed  in  the 
same  year. 

Most  of  the  railroads  and  especially  the  earlier  ones  were  built 
along  the  old  wagon  roads.  This  added  greatly  to  the  advantage  of 

those  old  towns  which  had  been 
built  along  the  old  wagon  roads. 
New  places  sprang  up  along  these 
railroads,  and  many  places  in  Illi- 
nois owe  their  origin  to  a  railroad 
crossing  or  junction.  To-day  the 
railroad  junctions  and  the  places 
having  the  largest  populations  in 
the  main  coincide.  In  following 
these  old  wagon  roads  the  railroads 
have  simply  utilized  the  natural 
lines  of  travel ;  in  the  southern  part 
of  the  state  all  of  the  main  lines 
tend  north.  In  the  centre  of  the 
state  the  trunk  lines  run  diagonally 
across  the  state  with  a  north  and 
south  trend.  In  the  northern  part 
of  the  state  the  roads  run  east  and 
west. 

Although  Illinois  has  a  greater 
number  of  miles  of  railway  than 
any  other  state,  there  are  three 
counties  which  have  none :  Cal- 
houn,  Hardin,  and  Pope.  This  is 
not  due  so  much  to  the  lack  of 
progress  in  these  regions  as  it  is  to  the  fact  that  each  is  abundantly 
supplied  for  much  of  its  boundary  with  navigable  streams.  Each 
of  these  counties  has  a  surface  of  rocky  hills  which  would  make 
railway  construction  very  expensive.  (Locate  these  three  counties 
on  the  relief  map.) 

Besides  these  transportation  lines,  the  Illinois-Mississippi  Canal 
is  being  constructed  to  run  from  Hennepin  in  the  Illinois  River  over 
the  low  place  in  the  divide  between  it  and  the  Rock  River.  The 


FIG.  22. 

Density  of  population. 
Each  dot  represents  the  location  of  1000  people. 

Whole  population 4,821,550 

Average  to  square  mile     ....  86 

Average  to  square  mile,  Cook  County    .          206t! 
Average  to  square  mile,  Putnam  County  27 


HISTORY  OF  ILLINOIS  29 

dream  of  an  open  ship  canal  from  Lake  Michigan  to  the  Mississippi 
River  is  still  to  be  realized.  The  construction  of  the  Chicago  Sanitary 
and  Ship  Canal  to  Lockport  is  only  one  step  farther  toward  this 
realization.  It  seems  probable  that  in  the  near  future  such  a  canal 
will  be  completed  and  will  provide  not  only  a  ship  route,  but  an 
immense  water  power  which  will  rival  that  at  Niagara. 


CHAPTER   IV 
CITIES  AND  COUNTIES  BY  PHYSIOGRAPHICAL  REGIONS 

The  Chicago  Plain.  —  It  has  already  been  seen  that  the  favorite 
route  of  the  Indians  and  the  early  explorers  and  settlers,  when  they 
entered  the  Illinois  country,  was  by  way  of  Lake  Michigan,  up  the 
Chicago  River,  and  then  over  the  narrow  portage  into  the  Des  Plaines 
and  Illinois  rivers. 

Thus  the  Chicago  plain  formed  the  entrance  to  the  shortest  and 
most  travelled  route  from  the  Great  Lake  Basin  to  the  Mississippi 
Basin. 

The  Chicago  plain  was  never  a  favorite  place  for  an  Indian  vil- 
lage. Any  band  of  Indians  that  attempted  to  settle  here  would  be 
continually  harassed  by  the  coming  and  going  of  other  Indians. 
For  this  reason,  although  for  a  time  it  made  a  splendid  place  for  a 
hardy  trader,  it  was  not  a  safe  place  for  white  men  to  settle.  Less 
dangerous  places  farther  along  the  route  down«the  Illinois  River  were 
settled  into  struggling  villages  by  the  French  before  Chicago  was 
even  a  permanent  settlement.  It  had  been  for  years  a  transient 
camping  place  for  Indians  and  French,  when  in  1785  the  first  build- 
ing was  erected  with  a  view  to  permanent  occupation.  This  was  an 
unsubstantial  fort  built  by  Durontaye,  and  did  not  continue  as  a 
protection  long  enough  to  attract  settlers  around  it. 

At  this  time  the  level  plain  was  by  no  means  all  prairie.  Trees 
lined  the  river  banks.  Most  of  the  land  between  the  north  branch 
and  the  lake  was  covered  with  small  trees,  and  trees  grew  along  the 
south  shore  of  the  lake.  These  furnished  fuel  and  logs  for  the' 
cabins  of  the  early  settlers.  The  land  was  mostly  low,  and  except 
where  these  patches  of  trees  grew,  it  was  flat  prairie,  covered  with 
grass  and  prairie  plants.  Along  the  river  banks  and  in  the  marshy 
places  the  wild  onion  grew  in  great  abundance,  on  account  of  which 
the  Indians  named  the  river  "  Chi-Kang-Ong,"  meaning  place  of 
skunk  weed  or  wild  onion.  Marquette  wrote  the  name  "  Checangon," 
and  from  this  has  come  the  present  name  "  Chicago." 

In  1803  the  government  built  Fort  Dearborn  on  a  high  knoll  on 

30 


CITIES  AND   COUNTIES  BY  PHY  BIOGRAPHICAL  REGIONS       31 

the  south  side  of  the  river  just  where  its  main  branch  bent  to  join 
the  lake  at  what  is  now  the  foot  of  Rush  Street.  Protection  thus 
insured,  families  might  settle  in  comparative  safety.  John  Kinzie, 
the  "•  Father  of  Chicago,"  built  the  first  real  residence,  directly  across 
the  ri\er  from  the  fort.  Mr.  Kinzie  settled  as  a  trader  and  soon 
establish  (1  outlying  posts  which  were  contributary  to  Chicago,  along 
the  l.iinoLs  River,  the  Rock  River,  and  the  Milwaukee  River.  The 
furs  t.ius  collected  were  sent  north  by  the  lake  and  sold  at  Fort  Mack- 
inac  to  be  shipped  east.  Thus  Chicago  early  became  the  distributary 
point  between  the  East  and  the  West. 

At  the  time  of  the  Indian  massacre  in  1812  (see  page  25),  five 
homes  constituted  the  settlement  at  Fort  Dearborn.  A  Frenchman 
named  Ouilmette  soon  moved  with  his  family  out  of  the  little  settle- 
ment to  a  piece  of  land  he  had  purchased  on  the  north  shore  of  the 
lake.  When  it  grew  to  a  settlement,  it  took  the  name  of  its  first 
settler,  Wilmette. 

The  massacre  of  1812  checked  the  growth  of  the  Fort  Dearborn 
settlement,  but  after  the  fort  was  rebuilt  in  1816  a  slow  growth 
began  which  resulted  in  the  building  of  a  number  of  log  and  slab 
houses  along  the  river.  The  fertile  soil  induced  farming  in 
connection  with  the  fur  trading. 

When  the  legislature  decided  upon  building  the  Illinois-Michigan 
Canal  (see  page  27),  it  empowered  the  canal  commissioners  to  "locate 
the  canal,  to  lay  out  towns,  to  sell  lots,  and  to  apply  the  proceeds  to 
the  construction  of  the  canal."  This  act  was  responsible  for  the  first 
survey  of  the  land  on  which  Chicago  is  now  located.  The  town 
of  Chicago,  with  about  150  inhabitants,  was  laid  out;  it  included 
the  region  between  Madison  and  Kinzie,  and  State  and  Des  Plaines 
streets.  In  1838  it  was  incorporated  as  a  town. 

Previous  to  the  laying  out  of  the  town  there  had  been  no  harbor 
into  which  large  ships  could  enter.  It  was  necessary  for  them  to 
anchor  off  the  shore  in  the  lake  and  unload  in  small  boats,  which 
could  pass  through  the  shallow  mouth  of  the  river.  The  river 
flowed  into  the  lake  at  the  foot  of  Madison  Street,  and  the  lake  had 
piled  up  a  sand-bar  almost  across  the  mouth.  In  1833  the  Illinois- 
Michigan  Canal  was  planned  to  be  a  great  ship  route  from  Lake 
Michigan  to  the  Illinois  River.  It  was  necessary  then  to  deepen  the 

•ith  of  the  Chicago  River.  This  Congress  did,  and  built  a  long 
..ii  the  north  side  of  the  entrance,  thus  straightening  the  river 
and  making  the  present  harbor  entrance. 


82  ILLINOIS  STATE  SVPPLEMKXT 

In  spite  of  the  numerous  hindrances  Chicago  at  once  began  its 
phenomenal  growth.  Large  tracts  of  land  were  put  up  for  sale  by 
the  government  at  auction.  Emigrants  flocked  into  the  little  town . 
by  boat,  horse,  and  "prairie  schooners"  to  take  advantage  of  the 
land  purchase.  Rude  log  and  slab  huts  were  built  all  along  Water 
street  and  in  a  scattered  manner  began  to  dot  the  prairie  all  over 
town.  Many  newcomers  were  forced  to  sleep  out  of  doors  or  live 
in  tents.  The  population  increased  from  150  in  1833  to  2000  in 
1834.  This  was  the  first  boom.  The  importance  of  the  location 
was  beginning  to  dawn  upon  people,  and  every  man  bought  all  the 
land  he  could  afford,  and  scrambled  for  more.  Rude  improvements 
naturally  followed.  County  roads  had  been  laid  out  before  this 
along  what  are  now  Ogden  and  Archer  avenues.  All  of  the  streets 
were  low  and  muddy.  Logs  and  slabs  were  laid  down  crosswise  on 
the  muddy  surface  to  form  a  sort  of  pavement.  A  log  bridge  was 
built  across  the  north  branch  of  the  river  at  Kinzie  Street,  and 
another  across  the  south  branch  at  Randolph  Street.  A  public  ferry 
had  been  in  operation  at  the  foot  of  Dearborn  Street,  and  in  1834 
this  was  replaced  by  a  rude  lumber  drawbridge. 

In  1837  Chicago  was  organized  as  a  city  of  4170  inhabitants. 
It  had  become  a  distributing  point  of  great  importance  to  the  new 
West.  Goods  were  sent  from  New  York  by  fehe  Erie  Canal  and  the 
Great  Lakes,  and  ships  returned  loaded  with  furs,  grain,  and  lumber. 
The  great  need  was  of  some  more  serviceable  way  of  bringing  the 
products  from  the  interior  into  the  city  for  shipment.  Country 
turnpikes  had  been  built  in  eveVy  direction,  but  they  did  not  reach 
far  enough,  and  the  hauling  was  too  difficult.  This  pressure  was 
greatly  relieved  when  the  Illinois-Michigan  Canal  was  opened  in 
1848.  The  first  year's  traffic  through  it  was  enormous  for  that  day. 
Corn,  wheat,  fruit,  and  farm  produce  of  every  kind  came  from  the 
centre  of  the  state  and  thence  down  the  Chicago  River.  Water 
Street,  which  bordered  the  river,  became  a  busy  place  and  the  chief 
street  in  the  town.  The  river  was  filled  with  every  sort  of  craft, 
bringing  in  farm  produce.  In  this  year  the  first  car  of  wheat  came 
into  Chicago  by  rail,  over  the  Galena  and  Union  Railroad  (now  part 
of  the  Chicago  and  Northwestern),  which  had  just  been  completed, 
from  the  present  site  of  Wells  Street  depot  to  the  Des  Plaines  River. 
So  great  an  increase  of  traffic  made  it  necessary  to  have  good  streets 
in  the  city.  In  order  to  get  them,  the  level  of  the  streets  all  over  the 
city  had  to  be  raised  from  eight  to  fourteen  feet.  Pavements  came 


CITIES  AND   COUNTIES  HY  PHYSIOGRAPHICAL  REGIONS     33 

next,  and  with  these  more  permanent  bridges.  In  1869  the  Wash- 
ington Street  tunnel,  under  the  south  branch  of  the  river,  was  opened 
to  foot-passengers. 

After  the  first  railroad  had  entered  Chicago  others  came  in  rapidly, 
and  in  1852  what  is  now  the  Lake  Shore  and  Michigan  Southern 
completed  the  first  line  of  road  connecting  Chicago  with  the  East. 
This  opened  up  a  new  feature.  All  roads  that  would  run  into  the 
northwest  from  the  east  must  run  south  of  the  lake  through  Chicago. 
Thus  Chicago  was  not  only  the  centre  of  north  and  south  water 
traffic,  but  the  natural  centre  for  all  east  and  west  land  traffic.  The 
effect  of  this  realization  was  another  boom.  Railroads  were  built 
in  rapid  succession  into  and  out  from  Chicago  in  every  direction. 
Manufactories  of  all  kinds  began  to  be  built  to  make  use  of  the  raw 
materials  that  were  flowing  in  from  all  sides.  By  1870  Chicago  had 
developed  into  a  great  commercial  centre,  having  grown  almost 
equally  along  every  commercial  line.  It  was  a  central  point  for 
travellers,  a  railroad  centre  and  shipping  port,  a  wholesale  and 
distributing  point,  a  storage  and  commission  centre,  and  rapidly 
becoming  a  great  manufacturing  centre  with  300,000  inhabitants. 
It  included  36  square  miles  of  territory. 

In  October,  1871,  the  great  Chicago  fire  almost  wiped  out  this 
prosperous  city,  burning  over  2200  acres,  almost  solidly  built  up 
Avith  15,768  buildings  and  175  manufacturing  plants. 

Chicago  of  the  Present.  —  From  a  town  of  150  inhabitants  and 
covering  six  square  miles  of  territory,  Chicago  has  grown  in  two- 
thirds  of  a  century  to  be  the  sixth  city  in  the  world,  with  1,698,575 
inhabitants  (census  of  1900)  and  covering  196  square  miles  of 
closely  occupied  territory.  The  city  occupies  one-fifth  of  Cook, 
County.  (Careful  estimates  of  1902  credited  Chicago  with  2,000,000 
inhabitants.) 

Manufacture  and  Commerce  Portion.  —The  location  of  Chicago, 
where  it  must  of  necessity  have  great  advantages  of  transportation, 
has  made  it  the  great  commercial  heart  of  the  nation.  From  all  of 
the  fertile  country  between  the  Rockies  and  the  Appalachians,  raw 
products  are  shipped  to  Chicago  by  rail  and  boat.  These  products 
then  go  through  one  of  two  processes :  they  are  either  stored  in 
great  collecting  concerns  of  Chicago,  resold  and  shipped  out  in  large 
quantities ;  or  are  here  manufactured  into  new  products  and  dis- 
tributed over  the  world.  Chicago  has  become  the  greatest  collecting 
and  distributing  centre  of  the  United  States  for  lumber,  grain,  and 


34 


ILLINOIS   STATE  SUPPLEMENT 


live  stock,  and  the  greatest  manufacturing  centre  for  machinery,  cars 
furniture,  and  prepared  meats. 

(  As  the  railroads  made  their  way  into  Chicago  they  aimed  to  con. 
nect  with  the  commerce  in  the  harbor  and  so  built  their  main  lines  01 
branches  to  the  river.)  Hence  the  river  is  the  centre  of  manufactur- 
ing, storage,  and  shipping,  and  presents  a  busy  scene  day  and  night. 
Great  lake  freighters,  coal  and  lumber  barges,  many  larger  and  smaller 
schooners,  passenger  steamers,  and  innumerable  smaller  craft  contin- 
ually fill  the  stream.  In  1899  more  boats  arrived  in  and  cleared  the 
Chicago  harbor  than  any  other  harbor  in  the  United  States.  In  actual 
tonnage  of  vessels  Chicago  was  graded  as  fourth  in  the  world.  Only 
London,  New  York,  and  Hamburg  respectively  lead  Chicago  in  this 
respect.  It  handled  three  times  the  boat  freight  of  Boston  and  almost 


FIG.  23. 
Grain  elevators  along  the  Chicago  River. 

four  times  that  of  Philadelphia.  Since  1900  Chicago  has  been  greatly 
reduced  in  importance  as  a  lake  port.  This  is  due  to  the  increased  size 
of  lake  boats,  which  find  the  Chicago  River  harbor  too  narrow  where 
railroads  and  merchants  have  filled  in  and  built  into  the  river.  The  old 
tunnels  under  the  river  are  too  near  the  surface  to  allow  the  great  ships 
to  pass  over  them.  The  action  of  Congress,  in  1904,  compelling  the 
removal  or  lowering  of  the  tunnels,  was  taken  with  a  view  to  restoring 
this  lost  shipping  to  Chicago.  The^  South  Chicago  harbor  and  the 
Calumet  River  have  increased  in  importance  as  the  Chicago  River  har- 
bor has  decreased.  The  lower  harbor  of  the  Chicago  River  is  lined 
with  docks  for  the  unloading  of  fruit,  vegetables,  flour,  fish,  and  other 
produce  for  distributing  through  the  city.  Farther  up  the  river  from 
this  busy  portion  are  the  huge  elevators  for  the  storage  and  transfer 
of  grain  on  its  way  to  the  eastern  and  foreign  markets.  Sixty-seven, 
million  bushels  of  grain  can  be  stored  in  the  Chicago  elevators  at 


CITIES  AND   COUNTIES  BY  PHYSIOGRAPHIC AL  REGIONS     35 

one  time.  Great  lumber-yards  cover  many  square  miles  along  the 
north  and  south  branches  of  the  river.  Most  of  this  lumber  comes  to 
Chicago  by  boat  from  the  north.  It  is  received  as  rough  timber  and 


FIG.  24. 
Lumber-yards  along  the  Chicago  River. 

is  manufactured  into  furniture  and  various  forms  of  building  lumber, 
doors,  cases,  mouldings,  etc.,  and  is  shipped  out  by  rail. 

Bordering  the  river  nearly  its  whole  distance,  with  river  docks 
on  one  side  and  freight  tracks  on  the  other,  are  shops,  foundries, 
mills,  and  manufactories  of  every  description.  Here  various  raw 
products  are  collected  from  as  many  different  directions  and  man- 


FIG.  25. 
The  stock-yards,  Chicago. 

ufactured  into  commercial  products,  ready  for  distribution  into 
homes,  farms,  and  other  factories.  The  mammoth  stock-yards  and 
packing-house  district  is  located  near  the  south  branch  of  the  river, 
where  it  has  every  advantage  of  transportation  facilities.  Thousands 
of  hogs,  cattle,  and  sheep  are  shipped  daily  from  the  Western  plains 


36  ILLINOIS   STATE  SUPPLEMENT 

and  the  corn  belt  of  the  Mississippi  Basin  to  the  Chicago  stock-yards. 
In  the  great  packing-houses  the  animals  are  slaughtered  and  the 
fresh  meat  is  shipped  in  refrigerator  cars  to  all  parts  of  the  United 
States.  Most  of  the  meat,  however,  is  preserved  by  packing,  smok- 
ing, drying,  salting,  and  other  processes,  and  a  large  amount  of  this 
is  sent  to  foreign  countries.  A  great  number  of  manufacturing 


FIG.  2«. 
Unloading  ore  from  lake  vessels  at  North  Slip  of  the  Illinois  Steel  Company,  South  Chicago. 

plants  have  grown  up  around  the  packing-houses.  These  make 
use  of  the  by-products  —  hides,  horns,  bones,  and  refuse.  All  of 
the  stock  shipped  to  the  stock-yards  is  not  slaughtered,  but  much  of 
it  is  resold.  The  Chicago  stock-yards  cover  a  square  mile  of  land 
and  are  the  largest  and  most  important  in  the  world.  Each  year  the 


FIG.  27. 

Rail-mill,  steel-mill,  blast  furnaces,  and  railroad  yard  of  Illinois  Steel  Company, 

South  Chicago. 

Chicago  stock-yards  receive  about  nine  million  hogs,  three  million 
cattle,  and  three  and  one-half  million  sheep. 

The  branching  river,  with  its  long  area  for  dockage  extending 
into  the  heart  of  the  city  in  every  direction,  is  the  central  manufac- 
turing district,  smoky,  noisy  ;  and  to  the  untrained  it  seems  always 


CITIES  AND  COUNTIES  BY  PHYSIOGRAPHICAL  EEGIONS     37 


unkempt  and  in  a  perfect  hubbub  of  disorder,  but  to  one  who  knows, 
it  appears  as  well-organized  progress,  putting  forth  every  energy  to 
meet  the  demands  of  the  world.  The  region  along  the  Calumet 
River  is  another  busy  district.  Here  are  centred  the  iron  and 
steel  industries.  The  ore  is  brought  in  great  barges  from  the  mines 
of  northern  Michigan  and  Minnesota,  and  the  vast  quantities  of  coal 
which  are  necessary  for  refining  and  working  it  are  brought  by  rail 
from  the  coal-fields 
of  Illinois  or  by 
boat  from  Penn- 
sylvania. Around 
these  large  foun- 
dries have  gath- 
ered many  iron- 
working  industries 
for  the  manufac- 
turing of  rails, 
car-wheels,  tools, 
nails,  tacks,  and 
all  kinds  of  iron 
implements,  until 
this  has  become 
the  third  centre  of 
importance  in  the 
United  States  for 
sucli  manufacture. 
Manufacturing 
is  not  confined  en- 
tirely to  these  river 
districts,  but  those 
industries  which  are  not  dependent  upon  the  lake  transportation 
have  selected  in  many  parts  of  the  city  regions  accessible  to  rail- 
roads. As  will  be  seen  on  the  map,  many  roads  enter  Chicago  by 
following  the  lake  shore  to  the  south  of  the  city.  These  lead  to 
many  elevators,  coal-yards,  and  manufacturing  concerns,  chiefly  out 
beyond  the  main  residence  portion  of  the  city.  At  Pullman  are  the 
greatest  car-manufacturing  works  in  the  world.  Here  the  easily 
accessible  wood  and  iron  products  are  made  over  into  cars  of  every 
description,  from  street  cars  to  those  palaces  on  wheels  which  serve 
as  private  cars  for  the  European  royalty. 


FIG.  28. 


38 


ILLINOIS  STATE  SUPPLEMENT 


The  Wholesale,  Retail,  and  Office  Portion.  —  The  growth  of  the 
business  portion  early  crowded  the  residences  away  from  the  river  and 
occupied  the  three  square  miles  lying  south  of  the  main  branch  of 
the  river  with  great  buildings  which  are  filled  with  stores  in  the 
lower  floors  and  offices  in  the  upper  stories.  Many  of  the  higher 

buildings  extend  from  six  to 
twenty-two  stories,  above  the 
street.  Such  tall  buildings 
are  called  "sky-scrapers,"  and 
more  of  them  are  found  in 
Chicago  than  in  any  other 
city.  From  this  central  busi- 
ness portion,  less  important 
business  streets  radiate  for 
miles  into  each  side  of  the 
city,  north,  south,  and  west. 
These  streets  are  the  main 
thoroughfares  leading  from 
the  residence  portions  to  the 
"  down-town "  portion  and 
are  occupied  by  the  more 
important  street-car  lines. 

It  is  the  natural  tendency 
for  business  houses  engaged 
in  the  same  line  of  business 
to  collect  in  the  same  district 
of  the  city,  and  the  choice  of  location  is  usually  dependent  upon  the 
convenience  of  transportation  and  sale  facilities.  For  example,  great 
quantities  of  fruit,  vegetables,  and  fish  come  into  the  city  by  boat  from 
the  shore  of  Michigan,  and  formerly  quantities  of  poultry  and  vegeta- 
bles came  down  the  river  by  small  boats.  The  wholesale  market  for 
such  things  has  naturally  grown  up  along  the  river.  In  the  morning 
South  Water  Street  presents  a  scene  of  great  confusion.  The  nar- 
row street  is  crowded  with  delivery  wagons  getting  loads  of  fruit, 
vegetables,  and  poultry  for  the  day's  sales  in  the  retail  markets. 
The  sidewalks  are  crowded  full  of  crates,  baskets,  arid  sacks  of  such 
produce.  Another  vegetable  market,  of  a  different  sort,  is  on  the 
West  Side,  Jefferson  Street,  in  a  district  most  convenient  for  the 
wagons  loaded  with  small  vegetables,  which  during  the  night  drive 
in  from  the  market  gardens.  Here  the  wagons  stand  during  the 


FIG.  29. 
A  sky-scraper  —  the  Masonic  Temple,  Chicago. 


CITIES  AND   COUNTIES  BY  PHYSIC-GRAPHICAL  REGIONS      39 


forenoon  until  their  stock  is  sold  out.  The  larger  retail  stores  occupy 
that  portion  of  the  city  which  is  most  convenient  for  the  public  to 
reach  by  means  of  the  car  lines.  Wabash,  State,  Clark,  and  Dear- 
born streets  are  especially  fitted  for  this.  On  State  Street  are  located 
the  large  department  stores,  which  are,  in  reality,  combinations  of 
many  stores  in 
one,  and  in 
which  every  ar- 
ticle of  use  in 
the  home  can 
be  procured. 
One  of  these 
stores  Avill  em- 
ploy  as  many 
as  2000  clerks. 
La  Salle  Street 
is  the  special 
home  of  banks 
and  insurance 
companies. 
Here  is  located 

also  the  Board  of  Trade,  in  the  pits  of  which  nearly  one-third  of 
the  farm  crops  of  the  United  States  are  exchanged. 

The  Residence  Portions  surround  the  business  portion  on  the  three 
sides  of  the  city —  north,  west,  and  south  sides.  These  three  residence 
districts  are  separated  by  the  manufacturing  districts  which  extend 
along  the  river  between  them.  All  three  are  very  similar  in  their 
organization  and  each  is  characterized  by  the  distinctive  districts 
peculiar  to  a  large  city. 

In  every  great  city  there  is  a  large  portion  of  the  population 
which  is  pressed  into  comparatively  small  areas  and  obliged  to  live 
crowded  together.  This  is  because  of  the  immense  amount  of 
space  required  for  business  purposes  and  because  it  is  necessary  for 
many  people  to  live  in  the  neighborhoods  in  which  they  are  employed. 
In  Chicago  the  most  densely  populated  sections  are  in  the  manu- 
facturing and  shipping  districts  that  line  the  river  and  the  railroads. 
Here  at  the  apex  and  along  the  sides  of  the  triangle  of  each  side  of 
the  city  the  ground  is  so  much  in  demand  that  the  houses  are  separa- 
ted only  by  little  paths,  and  there  is  no  room  for  trees  or  lawns.  As 
many  as  from  100  to  300  people  live  on  a"  single  acre  in  these  crowded. 


FIG.  30. 

Wholesale  fruit  arid  vegetable  market.  South  Water  Street, 
Chicago. 


40  ILLINOIS  STATE  SUPPLEMENT 

districts.  Shops  line  the  main  streets,  and  above  them  the  numerous 
apartments  are  closely  occupied  by  families.  Many  of  the  people  in 
these  sections  of  the  city  are  employed  in  the  great  factories,  work- 
shops, and  other  industrial  establishments,  while  some  find  occupa- 
tion in  the  various  other  lines  of  work  which  are  constantly  being 
carried  on  in  Chicago.  In  some  localities  nearly  the  entire  popula- 
tion is  composed  of  foreigners,  many  of  whom  have  not  yet  become 
accustomed  to  American  ways  of  living;  in  these  sections  English  is 
often  spoken  but  very  little.  Extending  from  these  congested  dis- 
tricts out  farther  from  the  centre  of  the  city  and  farther  from  the  man- 
ufacturing and  shipping  sections,  the  population  becomes  gradually 
less  dense  and  the  buildings  are  less  crowded.  One  effect  of  the  scar- 
city of  land  is  to  prevent  thousands  of  families  from  living  in  separate 
houses.  A  great  number  of  "flats"  are  built  to  accommodate  many 
families  in  the  little  space  which  the  city  affords.  The  boulevards 
and  parks  form  almost  a  continuous  circuit  of  the  city  from  the  old 
World's  Fair  ground,  now  part  of  Jackson  Park,  on  the  south  side, 
through  Douglas  and  Garfield  parks  on  the  west  side,  and  including 
Lincoln  Park  and  the  Lake  Shore  Drive  on  the  north  side.  These 
form  a  most  wonderful  system  of  well-cultivated  open  spaces,  and 
broad,  well-paved  and  parked  streets,  making  over  2000  acres  of 
breathing  space.  The  parks  are  fitted  with  outdoor  gymnasia,  nata- 
toria,  boating  lagoons,  botanical  and  zoological  gardens,  for  places  of 
amusement  and  instruction.  Around  this  park  system  and  stretch- 
ing out  beyond  it  are  splendid  residence  districts.  Here  the 
residences  are  for  the  most  part  supplied  with  lawns,  and  the  four 
to  eight  miles  into  the  business  portion  are  quickly  travelled  on  the 
elevated  roads  and  surface  car  lines. 

The  Suburbs.  —  Many  of  the  business  men  of  Chicago  prefer  to 
live  outside  the  city  limits,  in  towns  where  better  accommodations 
for  family  comfort  are  possible.  This  desire  has  given  life  to  many 
large  and  beautiful  suburbs  along  the  various  lines  of  railroads  run- 
ning out  of  Chicago.  In  the  morning  and  evening  hours,  thousands 
of  people,  who  have  come  in  to  business  from  their  homes,  situated 
from  eight  to  forty  miles  from  the  city,  stream  out  and  in  from  the 
suburban  train  stations.  Such  places  are  Evanston  and  the  line  of 
beautiful  towns  situated  along  the  shore  of  the  lake  north  of  the 
city.  Oak  Park,  Riverside,  and  La  Grange  are  the  larger  suburbs 
on  the  west  side.  Beyond  the  city  to  the  south  the  land  is  com-  * 
paratively  low  and  the  suburban  towns  that  have  sprung  up  there 
are  not  so  numerous  or  so  large  as  those  on  the  north  and  west. 


C1TIKS  AND   COUNTIES   1!Y  P II Y  BIOGRAPHICAL   REGIONS      41 

The  market  gardens  occupy  much  of  the  space  between  the 
suburbs.  The  rich,  loamy  soil  is  utilized  for  growing  small  vegeta- 
bles of  every  variety  for  city  consumption. 

Educational  institutions  have  kept  pace  with  the  rapid  growth 
of  Chicago,  and  the  last  few  years  have  seen  the  development  of  one 
6f  the  greatest  universities  in  the  world,  the  University  of  Chicago. 
Northwestern  University  at  Evanston  and  Lake  Forest  University 
at  Lake  Forest  are  older  institutions  of  the  same  class.  Each  of 
these  has  extensive  professional  schools  of  medicine,  law,  dentistry, 
etc.,  in  the  city.  The  University  of  Illinois  also  has  its  medical 
school  in  Chicago.  Many  smaller  but  important  schools  and  colleges 
of  a  private  character  are  scattered  through  the  city.  The  Art  Insti- 
tute on  the  lake  front  affords  a  splendid  gallery  and  school  of  art. 
Private  and  public  museums,  the  most  important  of  which  is  the 
Field  Columbian  Museum,  are  assuming  importance.  Chicago's  very 
complete  public-school  system  includes  234  schoolhouses  for  grade 
schools,  15  high  and  commercial  schools,  one  home  school  for 
delinquents,  and  one  normal  school. 

Waukegan1  (9426)  is  the  oldest  and  most  important  of  the  places 
located  along  the  lake,  north  of  Chicago.  Waukegan  is  more  favor- 
ably located  than  most  of  its  neighboring  towns,  having  a  good 
harbor  where  lake  craft  can  land.  A  belt-line  railroad  runs  from 
Waukegan  around  Chicago,  crossing  all  of  the  important  roads  cen- 
tring in  Chicago,  thus  giving  shipping  advantages  almost  as  great  as 
those  of  Chicago.  These  facts  have  made  it  one  of  the  important 
manufacturing  cities  of  the  state.  Its  chief  industries  are  steel  and 
wire  manufacture  and  sugar  refining.  It  is  the  county  seat  of  Lake 
County  and  has  nearly  doubled  in  population  in  the  last  ten  years. 


The  Illinois  River  Basin 

The  Indian  villages  and  early  settlements  along  the  Illinois  River 
probably  had  some  influence  in  determining  the  location  of  the  present 
cities,  but  their  importance  is  largely  due  to  the  abundance  of  natural 
resources  which  the  basin  affords  in  farm  products  and  coal.  The  water- 
power  furnished  by  the  rivers,  where  theynave  cut  through  the  moraines 
or  run  over  ledges  of  bed-rock,  has  had  much  to  do  with  the  development 
of  manufactures.  Transportation  along  the  streams  was  easy  from  the 

1  The  numbers  after  the  names  of  the  cities  indicate  the  populations  according  to 
the  census  of  1900. 


42 


ILLINOIS  STATE  SUPPLEMENT 


FIG.  31. 
Limestone  quarry  and  lime  kilns  along  the  Des  Plaines  River. 


first,  and  the  early 
development  of  tin- 
railroads  and  ca- 
nals was  an  added 
stimulant  to  trade 
and  production. 

The  Des  Plaines 
in  its  lower  course 
has  cut  through 
solid  limestone  and 
left  great  ledges 
exposed,  which  are 
easily  accessible 
and  have  led  to  an 
important  industry 
in  quarrying  limestone  for  building  purposes.  Much  of  the  limestone  is 
crushed  into  bits  and  used  for  macadamizing  roads  and  as  ballast  for  rail- 
roads. All  along  the  old  lake  outlet,  from  Summit  to  Joliet,  and  especially 
at  Lemont,  stone  quarries  are  numerous,  and  large  ovens  are  continually 
burning  and  making  lime  from  the  limestone. 

Joliet  (29,353)  is  situated  on  the  Des  Plaines  River,  where  the 
stream  flows  through  a  narrow  channel  and  by  a  series  of  rapids 
naturally  falls  about  30  feet  in  five  miles.  The  water-power  deter- 
mined it  as  a  manufacturing  centre,  and  the  close  proximity  to  coal 
has  served  to  em- 
phasize this  fea- 
ture of  Joliet. 
The  largest  in- 
dustry is  the 
manufacture  of 
steel  and  iron 
into  hardware 
commodities  and 
implements.  The 
various  industries 
associated  with 
the  manufacture 
of  lumber  into 
building  mate- 
rials and  cabinets  is  important.  Joliet  ranks  as  the  fourth  city  in 
the  state  in  value  and  importance  of  manufactures.  These  features 
have  made  it  an  attractive  point  for  railroads.*  It  is  a  junction  point 


FIG.  32. 
State  Penitentiary,  Joliet. 


CITIES  AND   COUNTIES  BY  PHYSIOGRAPHICAL   REGIONS       43 

for  four  important  roads.  An  electric  line  connects  Joliet  directly 
with  Chicago.  Many  Chicago  business  men  reside  in  Joliet.  The 
great  Illinois  State  Penitentiary  is  located  here.  Joliet  is  the  county 
seat  of  Will  County. 

Kankakee  (13,595)  is  the  county  seat  of  one  of  the  youngest 
counties  in  the  state.  The  land  of  this  county,  being  largely  low  and 
marshy,  was  not  attractive  to  the  early  settler,  but  now  the  value 
of  this  rich  soil  is  understood,  and  by  draining  the  land  the  very 
best  farm  land  is  made.  The  broad  level  lands  are  divided  into 
large  farms  producing  abundant  amounts  of  hay  and  oats,  and  conse- 
quently fattening  many  cattle.  Kankakee  is  important  in  being  the 
location  of  the  Eastern  Hospital  for  the  Insane,  the  largest  of  the 
seven  state  insane  asylums.  Kankakee's  principal  industries  are 
the  manufacture  of  tile  and  brick  and  the  quarrying  of  limestone. 

Morris  (4273),  the  county  seat  of  Grundy  County,  is  one  of  the 
places  whose  growth  was  particularly  stimulated  by  the  Illinois- 
Michigan  Canal.  It  became  a  transportation  centre  for  grain  from 
the  rich  country  surrounding.  Its  principal  industries  are  still  the 
shipping  of  farm  produce,  the  manufacture  of  flour,  brick,  and  tile, 
and  the  mining  of  coal.  The  value  of  its  products  is  large  compared 
with  its  small  population. 

The  bed  of  the  Fox  River  lies  between  the  Valparaiso  and  Cham- 
paign moraines,  running  almost  parallel  with  the  Des  Plaines.  It  is  a 
good-sized  stream,  draining  the  beautiful  Fox  and  Grass  lakes,  which 
have  become  popular  summer  haunts.  From  this  highland  in  the  north 
it  flows  very  rapidly  with  many  rapids  into  the  lower  land,  where  it  joins 
the  Illinois  River.  Its  rapid  fall  has  made  it  a  good  manufacturing  stream, 
giving  splendid  water-power  where  dams  have  been  built  across  its  course. 

The  numerous  old  roads  which  ran  west  and  northwest  from  Chicago 
forded  the  Fox  River  at  these  rapids,  and  at  these  fords  settlements  grew. 
Later,  railroads  were  built  over  these  old  roads,  dams  were  built  at  the 
rapids,  and  the  settlements  grew  into  prosperous  manufacturing  and  ship- 
ping centres,  although  no  coal  is  mined  in  this  part  of  the  state.  Such 
was  the  origin  of  Elgin,  St.  Charles,  Geneva,  Batavia,  and  Aurora,  all  of 
them  originating  between  1833  and  1835,  when  Chicago  and  this  northern 
part  of  the  state  was  booming.  All  of  these  cities  are  in  Kane  County, 
which  is  especially  noted  as  a  stock-raising  and  dairy  region.  Which 
place  is  the  county  seat  ?  All  these  places,  lying  within  40  miles  of 
Chicago,  are  to  a  large  extent  resident  places  for  Chicago  business  men. 

« 

Aurora  (24,147)  is  the  largest  of  these  cities.  It  is  situated  with 
residence  portions  on  the  bluffs  along  both  sides  of  the  river,  utiliz- 


44 


ILLl\f)ls 


>T  /'/'/.  !•:  \l  /:  \  / 


FIG.  33. 
Waterworks,  Aurora. 


ing  the  lower  level  ground  at  the  edge  of  the  river  for  the  business 
and  manufacturing  districts.  One  of  the  largest  stove-manu- 
facturing foun- 
dries in  the  world 
is  located  here. 
The  wheel-scraper 
works  manufac- 
ture grading  and 
road  machinery 
and  distribute  it 
all  over  the  new 
lands  of  the  West. 
A  corset  factory 
employs  a  large 
number  of  men 
and  women.  The 
great  C.  B.  and 
Q.  Railroad  shops  employ  more  men  than  any  other  concern  in 
Aurora,  repairing  and  building  rolling  stock  for  the  road. 

Elgin  (22,433),  20  miles  up  the  river  from  Aurora,  is  especially 
important  as  containing  the  largest  watch  factory  in  the  world. 
It  employs  many  highly  skilled  mechanics  and  workmen  and  pro- 
duces watches  equal  to  those  produced  anywhere.  Clocks  and  watch 
cases  are  also  manufactured.  Elgin  is  the  most  important  dairy 
centre  of  Illinois, 
manufacturing 
butter,  condensed 
milk,  and  cheese. 
The  Northern  Hos- 
pital for  the  In- 
sane is  at  Elgin. 

St.  Charles 
(2675)  is  also  a 
dairy  centre  of 
importance,  and 
with  its  neighbor-  r  ^ 

ing  places  supplies  E]gin. 

much  of  the  milk 

consumed  daily  in  Chicago.     Geneva  (2446)  and  Batavia  (3871)  are 
beautiful  places  situated  on  high  bluffs  along  the  river.     The  State 


CITIES  AND   COUNTIES  BY  PHYSIOGRAPHICAL   REGIONS     45 

Home  for  Juvenile  Female  Offenders  is  located  at  Geneva.  Ottawa 
(10,588)  is  the  county  seat  of  the  large  county  of  La  Salle,  which 
ranks  third  in  the  state  in  number  of  residents  and  second  in  number 
of  square  miles. 

It  was  along  this  portion  of  the  river,  where  it  flows  through  La  Salle 
County,  that  the  largest  and  most  prosperous  Indian  villages  were  situated 
in  the  early  days.  (See  page  23.)  The  ease  of  river  transportation  here, 
which  had  made  it  a  valuable  region  for  the  Indians,  also  made  it  easily 
accessible  to  the  whites.  The  rich  soil  of  the  broad  valley  and  the  level, 
well-drained  land  surrounding,  constituted  an  attraction  which  caused  this 
region  to  be  the  first  in  northern  Illinois  which  was  permanently  settled. 
These  same  characteristics  make  it  to-day  a  rich  agricultural  region  with 
prosperous  shipping  and  manufacturing  centres  along  the  river. 

The  Fox  River,  emptying  into  the  Illinois,  makes  a  spot  naturally 
advantageous  for  settlement.  All  of  the  old  trails  and  roads  which  lead 
from  the  southeast  into  the  northwestern  and  northeastern  parts  of  the 
state  crossed  the  Illinois  River  near  this  junction.  Ottawa  thus  started 
as  a  junction  place.  The  sandy  soil  and  abundance  of  coal  for  fuel  led  to 
extensive  glass  manufacture  here  as  in  Utica,  La  Salle,  and  Peru.  Lamp 
chimneys,  bottles,  etc.,  are  manufactured,  and  flour,  feed,  brick,  and  tile 
are  also  important  manufactured  articles.  Where  the  river  has  cut  its 
deep  channel  through  the  rock  layers,  coal  strata  are  exposed  and  mining 
is  common.  It  was  in  this  region  that  coal  was  first  discovered  in  America 
by  Father  Hennepin  in  1698. 

La  Salle  (10,446)  is  more  of  a  manufacturing  centre  than  Ottawa, 
owing  to  better  railway  facilities.  Three  important  railway  lines 
pass  through  La  Salle,  and  here  is  the  terminus  of  the  Illinois- 
Michigan  Canal.  These  facts  have  made  the  city  chiefly  a  shipping 
and  transfer  point.  In  the  early  days  this  was  the  head  of  navigation. 
Coal  and  zinc  are  mined  about  La  Salle.  One  of  the  largest  zinc 
works  in  the  world  is  located  here.  The  manufacture  of  cement 
is  an  important  industry ;  implements,  clocks,  and  glass  are  also 
manufactured. 

Peru  (6863)  is  closely  connected  with  La  Salle,  and  produces 
clocks,  scales,  ploughs,  and  bricks.  Quantities  of  ice  are  cut  in  these 
cities  during  the  winter  and  shipped  to  places  less  fortunately  situ- 
ated. La  Salle  and  Peru  are  built  on  high  bluffs  overlooking  the 
broad  river  valley,  which  at  this  point  has  cut  into  the  bed-rock 
in  such  a  way  as  to  leave  many  beautiful  hills  and  cliffs.  The 
rugged  aspect  of  this  region,  naturally  well  supplied  with  trees,  makes 
it  probably  the  most  noted  scenic  centre  of  the  state.  Starved  Rock, 


46 


ILLINOIS  STATE  SUPPLEMENT 


Deer  Park,  and  other  places  about  the  entrance  of  the  Big  Vermilion 
River  are  becoming  popular  summer  resorts  on  account  of  their 
natural  beauty  and  historic  interest. 

Pontiac  (4266)  lies  about  45  miles  from  the  mouth  of  the  Big 
Vermilion  River.  The  water  power  of  the  rapids  caused  a  mill  to 
be  built  here,  which  for  years  was  the  milling  centre  for  all  of  the 
productive  farm  land  around  for  many  miles.  Though  this  industry 


FIG.  33. 
Mill  at  Pontiac  on  site  of  original  mill. 

has  become  unimportant,  it  gave  Pontiac  with  its  three  railroads  the 
prestige  which  makes  the  town  still  the  shipping  and  distributing 
centre  for  this  part  of  the  state.  The  chief  manufacturing  industry  is 
the  production  of  boots  and  shoes.  The  Illinois  State  Reformatory 
is  located  here.  In  this  institution  about  1500  boys  between  the 
ages  of  ten  and  twenty-one  are  confined  and  are  given  an  industrial 
education  together  with  a  common  school  education.  Pontiac  is 
the  county  seat  of  Livingstone  County,  which  is  the  greatest  oat- 
producing  county  in  the  state. 

Streator  (14,079)  is  located  about  halfway  between  Pontiac  and 
La  Salle.     It  is  the  heart  of  a  great  coal-mining  region  and  is  one 


CITIES  AND  COUNTIES  ST  PHT BIOGRAPHICAL  REGIONS     47 

of  the  most  important  coal-shipping  centres  of  the  state.  Bottles, 
window  glass,  tile,  brick,  machinery,  and  hardware  are  the  principal 
manufactured  products.  Corn  and  live  stock  are  raised  in  abundance 
in  the  surrounding  county  and  are  shipped  from  Streator. 

Hennepin  (523)  is  the  county  seat  of  Putnam  County,  the  smallest 
county  in  the  state.  It  is  important  as  being  near  the  starting-point 
of  the  Hennepin  or  Illinois-Mississippi  Canal.  (See  page  16.)  The 
land  of  Putnam  and  Bureau  counties  is  probably  the  most  produc- 
tive of  any  in  the  Illinois  Basin.  No  large  cities  are  located  here, 


FIG.  30. 
Pontiac  Reformatory  —  battalion  formation. 

but  all  railroad  stations  ship  large  harvests  of  wheat,  corn,  rye,  and 
barley.  The  rich  sloping  land  of  Bureau  County  produces  more 
fruit  than  any  county  in  the  Illinois  Basin.  The  old  town  of 
Princeton  (4028)  is  the  county  seat. 

Lake  Peoria  is  formed  by  the  widened  channel  of  the  Illinois  River, 
and  is  a  broad  body  of  water  through  which  the  river  flows.  About  this 
body  of  quiet  water  the  Indians  built  their  villages,  and  at  its  south  end, 
on  the  east  bank,  as  early  at  1680,  La  Salle  made  his  headquarters  at  Fort 
CreveCoeur.  (See  page  23.) 

Peoria  (56,100),  the  second  city  of  Illinois,  began  as  a  French 
settlement,  nestled  on  the  level  land  under  the  high  bluffs  which 


48  ILLINOIS  STATE  SUPPLEMENT 

stand  back  from  the  west  side  of  the  river  and  the  lake.  It  was 
one  of  the  last  French  towns  to  resist  the  settlement  of  Americans. 
Its  French  population  and  their  supposed  sympathy  with  the  Indians 
during  the  Indian  troubles  of  1812  led  to  the  burning  of  the 
town  by  the  Americans  and  the  removal  of  the  inhabitants.  Sur- 
viving many  early  struggles,  its  advantageous  location  in  the  midst 
of  a  rich  agricultural  region,  and  its  natural  advantages  as  a  ship- 
ping and  transfer  centre,  caused  the  town  to  grow  gradually  but 
steadily.  Now  its  splendid  residence  portion  covers  the  high  bluffs 
back  of  the  original  town,  and  the  lower  level  valley  is  largely 
reserved  for  the  commercial  and  manufacturing  districts.  Numerous 


FIG.  37. 
Bradley  Polytechnic  Institute,  Peoria. 

railroad  lines  from  all  directions  run  in  on  this  level  plain,  bringing 
raw  products  for  manufacture  and  distribution  in  this  busy  city. 
Its  central  location  has  made  it  a  great  wholesale  centre  for  groceries 
and  provisions,  and  a  great  receiving  point  for  corn.  The  country 
all  about  is  underlaid  with  coal,  and  mining  has  made  Peoria  an 
important  place  for  the  manufacture  of  machinery  and  implements. 
The  cheap  fuel  has  led  to  the  manufacture  in  Peoria  of  nearly  4  per 
cent  of  the  total  manufacture  of  the  state.  Being  in  the  heart  of  the 
great  corn  belt,  it  has  grown  to  be  the  most  important  centre  in  the 
United  States  for  the  manufacture  of  glucose,  alcohol,  and  distilled 
liquors.  Rye  also  is  used  in  the  distilleries,  and  the  demand  has 
stimulated  the  production  of  this  grain  in  the  northwestern  part  of 
the  state.  Canning  of  vegetables,  fruit,  and  corn  is  an  important 


CITIES  AND  COUNTIES  BY  PHYSIOGRAPIIICAL  REGIONS       49 

industry  of  Peoria.      Of  what  county  is  Peoria  the  county  seat  ? 
How  far  is  Peoria  from  Chicago  ?     From  St.  Louis  ? 

Galesburg  (18,607)  is  the  county  seat  of  Knox  County,  which 
lies  on  the  highland  of  the  Champaign  moraine,  forming  the  divide 
between  the  Illinois  and  Rock  River  basins.  The  Spoon  River  rises 
with  many  heads  from  among  the  hills  of  Knox  and  Stark  counties. 
The  early  settlers  found  these  moraines  well  wooded  and  attractive 
places  for  settlement.  Galesburg,  with  its  wide  and  well-shaded 
streets,  has  more  the  appearance  of  an  Eastern  place  than  most  Illi- 
nois cities.  The  location  here  of  Knox  College  and  Lombard  Uni- 
versity, makes  it  something  of  an  educational  centre,  with  the 
characteristics  of  a  college  town.  It  does  not  rank  high  as  a 
manufacturing  city,  but  is  the  centre  in  Illinois  of  the  C.  B.  &  Q. 
Railroad,  containing  their  large  shops.  A  superior  quality  of  paving 
brick  is  manufactured  here. 

Monmouth  (74GO)  is  almost  directly  west  of  Galesburg,  and  is  the 
county  seat  of  Warren  County.  This  is  one  of  the  few  wheat-producing 
counties  of  northern  Illinois,  but  its  wheat  harvest  does  not  equal  in  value 
the  production  of  corn  or  of  live  stock.  Monmouth  is  much  like  Gales- 
burg in  its  characteristics,  and  is  the  seat  of  Monmouth  College.  Pottery, 
ploughs,  tile,  and  brick  are  its  most  important  manufactures. 

Pekin  (8420)  is  situated  a  few  miles  below  Peoria  on  the  flood-plain  of 
the  east  bank  of  the  Illinois  River.  It  is  the  county  seat  of  Tazewell 
County  and  the  centre  of  a  great  coal-mining  region,  shipping  great  quan- 
tities of  coal  over  the  four  roads  centring  there.  It  is  an  extensive  manu- 
facturing place,  producing  farm  implements,  flour,  hominy,  and  other  corn 
products.  Like  Peoria,  it  produces  distilled  liquors,  glucose,  and  starch. 

Havana  (3268)  is  the  county  seat  of  Mason  County,  and  is  situated  in  the 
broad  portion  of  the  Illinois  River  valley  where  the  flood-plain  spreads  out 
into  a  great  level  floor  covered  with  rich,  sandy  loam  and  silt  soil.  This 
flood-plain  continues  for  many  miles  on  the  east  side  of  the  river  through 
the  western  part  of  Cass,  Morgan,  Scott,  and  Green  counties.  The  condi- 
tions of  soil  here  make  this  strip  a  splendid  wheat-producing  region,  while 
the  protection  offered  in  the  lower  valley  by  the  bordering  bluffs  makes  the 
region  also  suitable  for  the  production  of  fruit. 

Beardstown  (4827)  is  situated  much  as  Havana  is.  Both  are  extensive 
shipping  points  for  wheat,  live  stock,  fruit,  ice,  and  fish.  The  Illinois 
River  is  one  of  the  greatest  fish-producing  streams  in  the  United  States. 
Nearly  half  a  million  dollars'  worth  of  fish  are  taken  out  annually,  and 
many  persons  make  good  profit  by  fishing  along  the  river  in  this  region. 

Jacksonville  (15,078),  the  county  seat  of  Morgan  County,  is 
located  011  the  highland,  back  from  the  Illinois  River.  Railroads 


50  ILLINOIS  STATE  SUPPLEMENT 

were  afterward  built  along  these  roads,  making  Jacksonville  an  im- 
portant junction  and  shipping  point.  Although  it  has  some  extensive 
manufacturing  and  shipping  interests,  it  is  chiefly  an  educational 
centre.  The  State  Institution  for  the  Education  of  the  Blind  and 
Deaf  and  the  Central  Hospital  for  the  Insane  are  located  here. 
The  other  educational  institutions  are  Illinois  College  and  Illinois 
Woman's  College. 

The  Sangamon  River,  Avith  its  many  tributaries,  winds  through  the 
richest  corn,  live-stock,  and  coal  region  of  the  state.  Nearly  all  of  the 
tributaries  of  the  Sangamon  rise  in  well-wooded  ravines  in  the  Champaign 
moraine.  McLean  County,  the  largest  county  of  the  state,  is  the  water- 
shed county  of  the  central  part  of  the  state.  High  and  well-drained 
laud,  well  supplied  with  groves  of  timber,  was  the  kind  the  eastern  emi- 
grants eagerly  sought  in  the  early  days.  As  the  old  Danville  road  ran 
along  the  top  of  the  Champaign  moraine,  it  crossed  a  grove  in  which  there 
was  a  fresh,  cold  spring.  This  made  an  enticing  camping-place  for  the 
pioneers,  and  was  early  given  the  name  of  Blooming  Grove. 

In  1831  Bloomington  (23,286)  was  made  the  county  seat  of  McLean 
County.  In  1852  this  prosperous  farming  community  attracted  the 
Illinois  Central  Road,  which  built  along  the  old  north  and  south  road. 
The  "  Big  Four  "  soon  took  advantage  of  the  old  Danville  road,  and 
Bloomington  became  a  shipping  and  transfer  centre.  To-day  these 
characteristics  are  the  dominant  ones:  a  prosperous  city  of  retired 
farmers,  a  wholesale  and  railroad  centre,  and  a  county  seat.  It  is 
not  an  important  manufacturing  city,  but  the  large  Chicago  and 
Alton  shops  give  employment  to  many  men.  The  clay  soil  gives  rise 
to  the  manufacture  of  paving-brick,  tile,  etc. 

Normal  (3795)  was  originally  a  railroad  junction  of  North  Bloom- 
ington, but  in  1857  the  state  legislature  provided  for  the  first  state 
normal  school  west  of  New  York,  and  established  it  in  North  Bloom- 
ington as  the  State  Normal  University.  Around  this  grew  up  the 
town  of  Normal,  one  of  the  educational  centres  of  the  state. 

The  many  streams  that  rise  in  McLean  County  and  flow  toward  the  San- 
gamon River  unite  in  the  lower  land  of  Logan  County,  forming  Salt  River, 
the  largest  tributary  of  the  Sangamon.  These  numerous  streams  give  the 
low  rich  land  of  Logan  County  good  drainage,  making  a  valuable  corn, 
vegetable,  and  small  fruit  region.  Lincoln  (8962)  is  a  railroad  and  dis- 
tributing centre  for  the  region  and  the  county  seat.  Its  coal,  agricultural 
products,  and  lumber  from  the  numerous  stream  valleys  furnish  Lincoln 
with  many  commodities  for  exchange. 


CITIES  AND   COUNTIES  BY  PHYSIC-GRAPHICAL  REGIONS       51 

Springfield  (34,150). — Elisha  Kelly,  an  Irishman  from  North 
Carolina,  was  attracted  by  the  productive  land  of  the  Sangamon 
Valley,  and  in  1818  built  his  cabin  on  the  highest  mound  he  could 
find,  which  happened  to  be  on  a  small  timber  branch  of  the  Sangamon, 
called  Spring  Creek.  He  drew  about  him  other  settlers  of  strong 
personality  who  were  natural  politicians.  These  men  succeeded  in 
getting  their  mound  called  Springfield,  and  marked  as  the  location 
of  the  county  seat  of  Sangamon  County,  which  then  comprised  many 
of  the  central  counties  of  Illinois.  While  the  state  capital  was  at 
Vandalia,  Springfield  determined  to  become  the  capital.  It  elected 
a  body  of  nine  shrewd  politicians,  among  whom  was  Abraham  Lincoln. 
These  men,  called  the  "  long  nine,"  succeeded  in  1837  (see  page  27) 
in  having  the  state  capital  moved  to  Springfield. 

In  those  early  days  the  route  for  travel  and  shipment  to  this  part 
of  the  state  from  the  East  was  down  the  Ohio  and  up  the  Mississippi 
to  St.  Louis.  To  reach  Springfield  it  was  necessary  to  go  by  trail 
from  St.  Louis.  All  farmers'  supplies  came  this  way,  until  in  the 
thirties  boats  ran  up  the  Illinois  River  to  Beardstown.  It  then  took 
six  or  eight  weeks  to  get  from  the  coast.  The  country  about  Spring- 
field was  rich  and  productive,  but  it  was  too  long  and  dangerous  a  haul 
to  take  the  products  to  St.  Louis  or  to  the  Illinois  River  points.  When 
the  railroad  opened  from  the  Atlantic  coast  to  Pittsburg  it  so  raised 
the  selling  price  of  farm  products  in  the  West  that  it  stimulated  the 
building  of  the  first  railroad  in  the  state,  from  Springfield  to  Mere- 
dosia.  This  was  the  beginning  of  Springfield  as  a  railroad  centre. 
At  present  all  of  the  important  railroads  of  central  and  southern 
Illinois  have  connections  at  Springfield. 

Springfield  has  become  important  not  only  as  a  political  and  rail- 
road centre,  but  as  a  manufacturing  centre.  Heavy  veins  of  coal 
underlie  the  surrounding  country  and  are  mined  in  and  around  the 
city.  The  shale  rock  that  is  taken  out  of  the  mines  is  ground, 
pressed,  and  baked  into  a  very  superior  quality  of  paving  and  build- 
ing brick.  The  manufacturing  of  machinery  and  implements  is  a 
flourishing  industry,  and  the  Illinois  watch  factory  employs  a  large 
force  of  men. 

The  real  importance  of  Springfield  comes  from  its  political 
position  as  capital  of  the  state.  The  capitol  building  is  one  of  the 
Hnest  state  capitols  in  the  West.  In  it  are  all  of  the  offices  of  the 
several  state  departments.  The  library  and  museums  are  especially 
fine  for  state  institutions.  The  state  Senate  and  the  House  of 


52  ILL1.\OIS    STATE  Hl'l'l'LI-:MEN'l 

Representatives  meet  here  every  two  years.  During  this  legislative 
season  Springfield  is  a  busy  place.  Besides  the  204  legislators,  many 
clerks,  copyists,  and  other  interested  people  fill  the  city  with  an 
excitable,  anxious  throng.  Curiosity  makes  Springfield  a  place  of 
interest  to  tourists  at  such  times.  For  besides  the  assembly,  there 
are  places  of  historic  interest  in  the  old  home  of  our  martyred  Presi- 
dent, Abraham  Lincoln.  The  Lincoln  Monument  marks  his  burial- 
place,  and  his  former  residence  is  controlled  by  the  state  and  kept  in 
much  the  same  condition  in  which  he  left  it. 

Alton  (14,210)  is  an  older  settlement  than  Springfield.  As  early  as 
1816  the  first  settlement  was  made  on  the  narrow  level  plain  on  the  east 
bank  of  the  Mississippi.  As  the  country  opened  up  to  settlement,  Alton 
increased  in  importance  and  became  the  trade  centre  for  central  and 
southern  Illinois.  When  railroads  began  to  build  into  this  region,  Alton 
struggled  to  make  itself  the  centre  for  railroads  passing  west  and  south, 
but  the  broadness  of  the  river  here  and  its  narrowness  at  St.  Louis  deter- 
mined St.  Louis  as  the  great  railroad  centre,  and  Alton  grew  slowly  in 
comparison. 

At  present  Alton  is  chiefly  a  manufacturing  city,  its  main  street 
extending  several  miles  along  the  narrow  river  plain,  from  which 
the  great  Mississippi  bluffs  rise  abruptly  to  a  height  of  a  hundred 
feet  or  more.  This  peculiar  lay  of  laud  has  caused  the  city  to  grow 
in  an  elongated  extent  along  the  river.  The  large  glass  factories, 
the  shoe  factory,  implement  works,  and  flour  mills  are  built  on  the 
level  plain  along  the  river,  while  the  residences  are  built  back  on 
the  edge  of  the  bluffs  and  in  the  wooded  ravines  that  run  in  among 
them.  Alton's  chief  industry  is  the  manufacture  of  glass  commodi- 
ties, —  bottles,  etc.,  —  at  which  3500  men  are  employed.  In  what 
county  is  Alton  ?  What  is  the  county  scat  ? 

St.  Louis  (575,238)  and  East  St.  Louis  (29,655).  (See  page  23.) 
The  early  French  settlement  of  St.  Louis  was  well  chosen  for  later 
growth.  When  emigrants  wanted  to  cross  the  Mississippi  they 
found  the  narrow  place  at  St.  Louis  the  most  desirable.  From 
Vincennes,  from  Mt.  Carmel,  and  from  many  landing  places  along 
the  Ohio  River  old  roads  ran  directly  to  Piggot's  Ferry,  at  this 
place.  Later,  the  river  boats  found  the  highland  washed  by 
the  deep  river  a  dry  and  safe  place  for  landing  in  contrast  to  the 
low,  shallow  places  usually  found  along  the  Mississippi  River. 
The  boats'  cargoes  were  here  unloaded  and  distributed  to  all . 
parts  of  the  Illinois  Territory.  Later,  when  projectors  of  rail- 


CITIES  AND   COUNTIES  BY  PHYSIOGKAPUICAL   REGIONS      53 

roads  looked  for  a  place  to  build  across  the  river,  this  was 
the  place  most  easily  crossed.  Thus  St.  Louis  became  and  is  at 
present  the  great  distributing  point  for  southern  Illinois.  One  great 
disadvantage  St.  Louis  has  always  felt  is  its  situation  on  the  west 
side  of  the  Mississippi,  all  goods  crossing  the  river  having  to  pay  a 
high  bridge  toll.  On  the  east  side  of  the  river,  however,  the  flood- 
plain  was  wide  and  very  low,  covered  with  small  lakes  and  marshes, 
and  at  every  flood  the  land  was  completely  submerged.  It  was 
necessary  for  the  railroads  to  cross  this  lowland  to  get  to  the  bridge. 
They  elevated  their  tracks  above  the  dangers  from  floods  and  made 
something  of  a  freight  centre  on  the  east  bank.  Manufacturing  arid 
storage  concerns  found  it  worth  while  to  build  here  among  the  rail- 
roads rather  than  to  pay  the  high  bridge  toll  of  from  five  to  six 
dollars  a  car.  This  was  particularly  true  of  live-stock  concerns. 
Much  of  the  live  stock  was  shipped  from  or  to  the  good  feeding  farms 
in  central  and  southern  Illinois.  Stock-yards  need  a  great  deal  of 
land.  Land  was  high  in  St.  Louis  and  very  cheap  in  East  St.  Louis. 
Coal  in  abundance  was  mined  on  the  bluffs  a  few  miles  east  of  East 
St.  Louis,  so  that  fuel  was  cheap.  These  are  the  chief  reasons  why 
East  St.  Louis  became  a  manufacturing  and  shipping  portion  of 
St.  Louis.  '  The  lowness  of  the  land  made  East  St.  Louis  an  uncom- 
fortable and  unhealthful  place  in  which  to  live,  and  those  who  could 
afford  it  had  their  residences  on  the  high  land  of  St.  Louis.  Grad- 
ually, however,  small  homes  were  built  on  the  higher  land  of  the 
valley.  The  land  was  drained,  dikes  were  built  along  the  river  to 
keep  the  floods  back,  and  as  a  consequence  more  homes  and  retail 
stores  were  built  until  East  St.  Louis  became  a  low,  muddy  city  of 
about  15,000  inhabitants.  A  general  move  was  made  to  elevate  the 
whole  city,  and  one  of  the  most  wonderful  undertakings  in  city  build- 
ing was  accomplished.  Temporary  railroads  were  built  in  the  streets 
and  earth  was  hauled  in  from  the  bluffs  several  miles  back  of  the 
city.  Streets  were  built  up,  buildings  were  raised.  The  level  of 
the  whole  city  was  raised  from  eight  to  twenty  feet.  The  work  is 
hardly  finished,  but  residences  have  been  built  and  more  manufactur- 
ing concerns  have  moved  in,  so  that  East  St.  Louis  has  doubled  in 
size  in  the  last  ten  years,  and  in  1900  was  the  sixth  city  in  size  in 
the  state,  and  the  third  in  importance  of  manufactures.  The  indus- 
try of  most  importance  is  th'e  exchange  and  slaughter  of  live  stock. 
The  great  stock-yards  cover  650  acres  and  are  next  in  importance  to 
those  of  Chicago.  Here  is  the  largest  horse  and  mule  market  in  the 


54 


ILLINOIS  ,s  T.  1 7 ' /•:  sri'i'i.  I-:M  /•:  v  / 


ceutral  West.  All  of  the  large  meat-packing  firms  have  big  plants 
here.  The  several  large  iron-working  and  foundry  concerns  make 
use  of  the  iron  ore  shipped  up  the  river  from  Missouri.  The  lead 
mines  of  Missouri  supply  East  St.  Louis  with  lead  ore,  from  which 
is  manufactured  white  lead  paint.  Flour,  glass,  and  beer  are  impor- 
tant manufactured  articles.  Nineteen  railroads  centre  here,  making 
an  important  freight  exchange  and  grain  storage  centre.  In  what 
state  is  St.  Louis  ?  In  what  county  is  East  St.  Louis  ? 

The  Kaskaskia  River  Basin.  —  From  the  high  bluffs  east  of  East  St. 
Louis  the  surface  slopes  gradually  to  the  Kaskaskia  River  and  is  under- 
laid by  thick  veins  of  coal.  The  Illinois  counties  surrounding  St.  Glair 
County  include  the  greatest  wheat,  rye,  and  barley  producing  region  of  the 


FIG.  38. 
Factory  for  manufacture  of  fruit  crates,  typical  of  southern  Illinois. 

state.  Fruit  is  also  grown  in  some  abundance.  In  going  through  this  basin 
one's  attention  is  attracted  by  the  large,  thrifty-looking  farms.  They  seeni 
older  than  those  in  the  north,  and  nearly  every  farm  has  its  old  orchard. 
Many  young  fruit  trees  have  been  set  out  in  this  section,  and  large  fruit 
farms  are  beginning  to  produce  an  abundance  of  apples,  peaches,  and  small 
fruits  for  shipping  north.  There  is  a  noticeable  absence  of  large  cities  in 
this  basin,  although  it  was  the  first  generally  settled  part  of  the  state.  (See 
page  26.)  Many  small  cities,  towns,  and  villages  form  centres  to  which 
the  farmers  bring  their  crops,  grain,  and  fruit,  and  buy  their  supplies  of 
clothing  and  tools.  The  cities  were  either  located  as  the  remains  of  some 
old  French  or  English  settlement,  of  the  early  days,  or  have  sprung  up 
along  the  railroads  at  junctions  or  shipping  points.  All  of  them  have 
much  the  same  appearance,  —  one  main  street  near  the  depot,  several  stores, 
a  post-office,  schoolhouse,  one  or  two  churches,  and  a  well  spread  out  resi- 


CITIES  AND   COUNTIES   BY  PHYSIOGltAPHICAL   REGIONS      55 


dence  district  of  farms  or  larger  brick  houses.  A  grain  elevator,  stock 
corral,  a  small  grist-mill,  and  a  sawmill  are  indications  of  the  prevailing 
industry.  In  nearly  every  town  of  the  lower  basin  there  is  a  factory  for 
the  manufacture  of  barrels  and  wooden  boxes  and  crates  for  shipping  fruit. 
The  timber  along  the  streams  furnishes  much  of  the  soft  wood  for  this 
purpose.  All  along  the  railroads  of  the  upper  basin  are  seen  the  tall  shafts 
and  rude  buildings  that  indicate  the  presence  of  coal  mines. 

Belleville  (17,484)  is  the  largest  city  of  the  lower  basin.  It  is 
located  on  the  high  land  near  the  centre  of  St.  Clair  County,  of  which 
it  is  the  seat.  It  is  a  thrifty  city  with  a  large  German  population, 
chiefly  engaged  in  the  mining  of  coal  and  manufacture  of  iron. 


.     FIG.  39. 

A  typical  mining  town  of  Illinois. 

Vandalia  (2665),  many  years  ago  the  state  capital,  is  now  like  Nashville 
(2184),  Carlyle  (1875),  Greenville  (2504),  Salem  (1642),  and  Hillsboro 
(1937),  a  prosperous  little  railroad  centre  for  the  collection  of  agricultural 
products  and  coal,  and  chiefly  important  as  a  county  seat.  (Of  what 
counties  are  these  places  the  seats  ?)  Centralia  (6721)  is  a  rapidly  grow- 
ing city,  located  chiefly  on  account  of  the  rich  beds  of  coal  mined  in  that 
locality.  It  has  become  noted  as  a  shipping  point  for  fruit,  especially 
apples,  berries,  and  melons.  The  land  about  the  head  waters  of  the  Kas- 
kaskia  is  the  high,  well-drained  rolling  soil  of  the  Champaign  and  Shelby- 
ville  moraines,  with  wooded  ravines  and  fresh-water  springs,  which  appeared 
so  attractive  to  the  early  settlers.  This  region  was  quite  thickly  settled 
and  divided  into  large  counties  before  any  cities  grew.  When  Shelby 
County  was  organized  and  the  commissioners  looked  for  a  suitable  seat, 
they  chose  a  high  mound  near  the  west  bank  of  the  river  where  a  spring 


56  ILLINOIS  STATE  SUPPLEMENT 

attracted  their  attention.  Here  Shelbyville  (30-10")  grew  into  a  railroad 
centre  for  a  rich  corn  country.  The  upper  Kaskaskia  Basin  is  part  of  the 
great  broom-corn  producing  region,  and  the  manufacture  of  brooms  is  a 
consequent  industry  of  Shelbyville.  Coal  is  also  mined  in  large  quantities. 
L'ana  (5530),  20  miles  west  of  Shelbyville,  in  Christian  County,  is  a  railroad 
and  manufacturing  centre.  The  extensive  mining  of  coal  has  led  to  the 
manufacturing  of  iron  commodities.  A  great  deal  of  live  stock  is  shipped 
from  this  region,  mainly  to  East  St.  Louis. 

The  Big  Muddy  River  Basin,  together  with  all  the  low  land  of  southern 
Illinois,  is  familiarly  known  as  "Egypt,"  a  term  which  seems  well  applied 
when  one  realizes  the  extent  of  flood-plain  soil.  The  northern  part  of  the 


FIG.  40. 

Typical  strawberry  field  of  southern  Illinois. 

basin,  like  the  northern  part  of  the  state,  is  covered  with  glacial  drift ;  but 
its  lower,  southern  part  remains  uninfluenced  by  the  ice  sheet  and  is  covon-d 
with  fine  loam  soil,  which  was  deposited  largely  by  old  glacial  lakes  and 
drainage  streams  from  the  higher  land  on  the  north  and  south.  Tlio 
southern  climate  and  abundant  rainfall  make  this  basin,  together  with  ;v 
like  region  in  the  Saline  River  Basin  directly  east,  the  great  fruit  belt  of 
the  state.  On  the  southern  slopes  of  hills  and  rolling  prairie  all  kinds  of 
trees  and  small  fruit  flourish.  The  resources  of  this  region  are  not  as  yet 
fully  developed.  Only  within  the  last  few  years  have  the  possibilities 
of  this  rich  land  been  understood.  Much  of  the  country  is  covered  with 
good  forests  of  white  and  red  oak,  hickory,  elm,  and  gum.  The  absence 
of  glacial  drift  has  left  the  bed-rock  close  to  the  surface,  and  in  many 
places  thick  veins  of  the  best  coal  in  the  state  crop  out  from  the  northern 


CITIES  AND   COUNTIES  BY  PI1YSIOGRAPI1ICAL  REG1OXS     57 


slope  and  are  easily  mined  by  slope  mines  and  shallow  shafts.  Until 
recently  the  transportation  facilities  of  the  region  have  been  very  meagre. 
With  the  building  of  railroads  and  a  chance  to  ship  out  the  products  of 
the  region  comes  the  prospect  of  energetic  residents  and  abundant  capi- 
tal which  will  make 
southern  Illinois  one 
of  the  greatest  fruit 
regions  of  the 
United  States. 

Mt.  Vernon 
(5216)  is  located 
on  a  high  mound 
where  two  old 
wagon  roads  have 
a  junction,  cross- 
ing near  the  head 
of  the  Big  Muddy 
River.  It  is  now 
a  railroad  centre 
and  county  seat. 
Surrounded  by  good  farms  on  which  quantities  of  fruit,  hay,  and 
wheat  are  raised,  and  underlaid  with  good  coal  veins,  it  has  become 


FIG.  41. 
Typical  young  orchard  of  Big  Muddy  Basin. 


FIG.  42. 

Mine  buildings.     Shaft,  washer,  and  implement  house  of  Peabody  Mine,  Marion. 

a  shipping  and  manufacturing  city.  The  Mt.  Vernon  Car  Manu- 
facturing Company  has  a  large  establishment  here.  Quantities  of 
white  oak  from  the  forests  of  this  basin  are  cut  into  railroad  ties. 
At  Mt.  Vernon  a  large  plant  treats  these  ties  with  chemical  sub- 


58 


ILLINOIS  STATE  SUPPLEMENT 


stances  to  preserve  them  from  decay.  Murphysboro  (6463),  Carbon- 
dale  (3318),  and  Marion  (2510)  are  the  largest  centres  of  importance 
in  the  lower  basin,  and  are  typical  of  all  the  smaller  places  of  Frank- 
lin, Williamson,  and  Jackson  counties.  The  city  population  is  mainly 
concerned  with  the  mining  of  coal.  Sawmills  and  factories  for  the 
manufacture  of  fruit  crates,  tool  handles,  and  parts  of  farm  implements 
are  scattered  throughout  the  region.  Each  city,  town,  and  village 
has  one  or  more  elevators  for  the  shipment  of  wheat,  which  produces 
well  here.  Corn  is  little  grown.  At  Carbondale  is  the  Southern 
Illinois  Normal  University,  the  largest  educational  institution  in 
southern  Illinois.  What  counties  are  included  in  the  Big  Muddy 
Basin  ? 

The  Southern  Non-glaciated  Region.  —  Going  south  from  the  Big  Muddy 
Basin,  the  laud  rises  abruptly,  and  the  whole  appearance  of  the  country 

changes.  The  great  rocky  hills  of  the 
Ozarks  rise  to  700  and  800  feet,  way 
across  the  state  in  Union,  Johnson, 
Pope,  and  Havdin  counties,  except 
where  the  Mississippi  and  Ohio  rivers 
have  worn  their  valleys  and  built 
their  flood-plains  on  the  west  and 
east.  These  hills  are  not  productive 
of  agricultural  crops  or  coal.  Where 
their  limestone  cliffs  have  given  way 
to  narrow  valleys  or  broad  slopes, 
large  oak,  elm,  and  hickory  trees 
make  forests  capable  of  producing 
good  lumber.  From  the  hills  the 
land  slopes  to  the  Ohio  and  Missis- 
sippi rivers  in  broad,  shelf-like  ter- 
races. The  lower  terraces  are  swampy 
and  filled  with  rough  forests  of  cypress 
and  soft-wood  trees.  This  land  needs 
drainage  and  clearing  before  its  rich 
soil  and  warm  climate  can  be  properly  utilized.  Where  the  land  is  higher 
and  well  drained  it  is  a  wonderful  fruit  and  wheat  producing  region. 

Cairo  (22,566),  the  most  southern  point  of  Illinois,  is  located  on 
a  tongue  of  land  which  is  below  high-water  mark,  and  has  been 
built  on  a  bar  of  sediment  at  the  entrance  of  the  Ohio  into  the 
Mississippi  River.  As  early  as  1818,  far-seeing  men  gained  posses- 
sion of  this  apparently  worthless  land.  At  the  junction  of  two  so 
great  navigable  streams  a  city  must  in  time  grow.  Great  levees 


FIG.  43. 

Cypress  trees  in   swamp   of  southern 
Illinois. 


CITIES  AND  COUNTIES  BY  PUT  BIOGRAPHICAL  REGIONS      59 


have  been  built  about  the  city  55  feet  above  low-water  mark,  and  a 
pumping  system  rapidly  empties  the  city  of  any  seepage  water  that 
enters.  The  busi- 
ness portion  and 
much  of  the  resi- 
dence portion  have 
been  filled  up  to  a 
higher  level.  A 
great  railroad 
bridge  costing  four 
millions  of  dollars 
has  been  built 
across  to  the  Ken- 
tucky shore.  Since 
these  accomplish- 
ments Cairo  has 
grown  rapidly  in 


Lumber  yard  near  implement  and  crate  factories  in  southern 
Illinois  non-glaciated  region. 


FIG.  44. 

population,  but  its 
extensive  commer- 
cial interests  have  grown  out  of  all  proportion  to  its  population.  It 
has  become  a  great  point  of  exchange  between  the  grain-producing 
section  of  the  North  and  the  grain-consuming  region  South.  Down 

the  Ohio  and  its 
extensive  tributa- 
ries and  down  the 
northern  Missis- 
sippi and  its  tribu- 
taries many  ships 
bring  cargoes,  to 
be  distributed  by 
rail  or  reshipped 
in  larger  boats 
down  the  Missis- 
sippi. Most  Gulf 
of  Mexico  boats 
can  ascend  the 
Mississippi  to 
Cairo  with  cargoes 

for  distribution  to 

I'ieco  yard,  showing  pieces  ready  for  manufacture  into  fruit        .  .  ,.,. 

crates.  tae      nortn. 


60  ILLINOIS   STATE  SI' I'l'LEMENT 

lumber  industry  is  of  the  greatest  importance.  The  hard  lumber  from 
the  Alleghany  plateaus  in  West  Virginia,  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  and 
Alabama,  and  from  the  Ozark  Mountains  of  Missouri  and  Arkansas, 
comes  to  Cairo  by  boat  and  is  here  stored  in  great  lumber-yards, 
awaiting  distribution,  or  is  made  into  building  lumber,  implements, 
and  crates. 

Mound  City  (2705),  Metropolis  (40(39),  Golconda  (1140),  Elizabethtown 
(6G8),  and  Shawneetown  (1698)  are  small  county  seats  that  have  grown 
upon  the  higher  mounds  along  the  Ohio.  They  are  all  alike  interested  iu 
the  river  traffic.  The  chief  industry  of  each  is  woodworking  in  small 
mills  and  factories.  The  hardwood  lumber  which  comes  down  the  Ohio  is 
here  made  into  parts  for  farm  implements  and  sent  to  the  manufacturing 
centres  in  the  northern  part  of  the  state.  Of  what  county  is  each  the 
county  seat? 

The  Wabash  River  Basin  in  Illinois.  —  The  land  of  Champaign 
and  Vermilion  counties,  drained  by  the  Vermilion  River,  is  much 
like  that  of  the  Champaign  moraine  as  described  about  Bloomington. 
The  broad,  rolling  fields  produce  large  crops  of  corn  and  hay,  and 
consequently  live  stock  is  fattened  and  shipped  either  to  Chicago  or 
St.  Louis.  Coal  is  mined  in  some  quantities  in  the  eastern  part, 
especially  about  Danville  (16,354),  the  county  seat  of  Vermilion 
County.  As  in  its  infancy  (see  page  50),  Danville  has  continued  as  a 
junction  place.  The  old  roads  are  now  occupied  by  railroads  running 
east  and  west  and  north  and  south.  The  shipments  of  coal,  corn, 
and  live  stock  are  large.  Brick,  tile,  flour,  and  carriages  are  manu- 
factured. Champaign  (9098)  and  Urbana  (5728)  are  located  so  near 
together  that  they  almost  form  one  city.  The  location  of  the  State 
University  at  Urbana,  in  1867,  has  made  these  places  chiefly  educa- 
tional centres.  The  railroads  have  made  Champaign  the  railroad 
centre,  though  the  Big  Four  Railroad  shops  at  Urbana  give  rise  to 
the  largest  single  industry.  Which  is  the  county  seat? 

Paris  (6105)  is  located  on  the  Shelby  ville  moraine,  where  the  old  Mt. 
Carmel  road  branched  off  to  the  west.  Its  chief  manufactured  articles  are 
brooms  made  from  the  broom-corn  grown  throughout  this  part  of  the 
state.  Corn,  live  stock,  and  fine  horses  are  shipped.  Paris  is  the  seat  of 
Edgar  County.  Mattoon  (9622)  is  a  railroad  centre  on  the  Shelbyville 
moraine.  The  large  railroad  shops  account  for  much  of  its  population. 
Brooms,  farm  implements,  and  agricultural  products  are  its  chief  products. 
Charleston  (5488)  is  the  county  seat  of  Coles  County.  The  region  along 
the  Wabash  and  its  tributaries,  the  Embarras  and  Little  Wabash  rivers,  is 
much  like  that  of  its  neighbors,  the  Kaskaskia  and  Big  Muddy  rivers  on 


CITIES  AND   COUNTIES  BY  PIIYSIOGRAPIIICAL  REGIONS     61 

the  west.  The  agriculture  of  nil  this  region  along  the  Eiubarras  River  is 
mainly  taken  up  with  the  production  of  broom-corn.  These  counties 
produce  two-thirds  of  the  broom-corn  grown  in  the  United  States.  Corn 
and  live  stock  are  raised  in  less  abundance  than  they  are  farther  north, 
wheat  and  fruit  becoming  important  in  their  stead.  The  cities  are  smaller, 
and  of  importance  mainly  as  railroad  centres  and  county  seats.  Coal  is 
mined  extensively  in  the  lower  basin  of  the  Little  Wabash  and  Saline 
rivers  and  makes  manufacture  of  some  importance.  Olney  (4260),  Mt. 
Carmel  (4311),  and  Carmi(2939)  are  the  largest  cities  of  this  section. 


Fro.  40. 

Building  a   railroad   through   a   typical   southern   Illinois  region. 

soil  above. 


Limestone  with  thin 


The  Rock  River  Basin  is  the  highest  basin  in  the  state.  The  river,  with 
its  two  important  branches,  the  1'ecatonica  and  the  Kishwaukee  rivers, 
falls  rapidly  but  gradually  from  the  highlands  to  its  mouth,  thus  furnish- 
ing excellent  water-power  for  manufacturing  purposes.  The  rolling  land 
above  the  valley  is  well  occupied  with  farms,  where  corn  and  hay,  and 
consequently  live  stock,  are  produced  in  abundance.  The  dairying  industry 
before  noticed  along  the  Fox  River  is  prominent  also  in  the  Rock  River 
Basin.  More  rye  is  produced  in  this  basin  than  in  any  other  in  the  state. 
No  coal  is  mined  in  the  basin.  The  northwestern  corner  of  the  state  can 
hardly  be  included  in  this  basin,  but  drains  by  short  streams  directly  into 


02  ILLINOIS  STATE  SUPPLEMENT 


the  Mississippi.  This  is  a  non-glaciated  portion,  and  its  characteristic's 
are  marked.  (See  page  16.)  The  early  discovery  of  lead  and  zinc 
ore  along  Fever  River  caused  an  early  rush  for"  this  region,  and  Galena 
(5005)  grew  as  a  mining  centre.  These  metals  are  still  mined  in  small 
quantities,  but  the  discovery  of  other  richer  deposits  farther  west  and  the 
tendency  to  exhaust  the  supply  here  have  decreased  the  importance  of  the 
industry  in  Illinois.  Galena  was  for  a  long  time  the  home  of  U.  S.  Grant. 
His  house  is  now  preserved  in  memory  of  him.  Of  what  county  is  Galena 
the  seat  ?  The  early  emigration  to  Galena  had  an  important  effect  upon 
the  development  of  the  Rock  River  Basin.  Where  the  old  roads  led 
across  the  river,  settlements  started  and  have  grown  into  cities,  chiefly 
important  as  manufacturing  centres.  This  region  was  settled  almost 
entirely  by  people  from  the  North,  New  England,  and  New  York  State. 
The  wooded  valleys  and  well-drained  land  had  their  influence  on  making 
the  handsome  cities  now  found  in  this  basin. 

Freeport  (13,258)  grew  from  a  small  settlement  started  in  a  high 
and  attractive  location.  It  is  now  an  important  railroad  centre  and 
manufacturing  city.  Windmills,  vehicles,  and  implements  are  the 
chief  manufactured  articles.  Of  what  county  is  Freeport  the  seat  ? 

Rockford  (81,051)  began  as  a  settlement  where  the  same  Galena 
road  which  passed  through  Freeport  forded  the  Rock  River.  The; 
broad,  level  flood-plains  on  each  side  of  the  river,  bordered  with 
high  bluffs,  formed  an  attractive  birthplace  for  what  was  to  become 
one  of  the  most  beautiful  cities  in  Illinois.  The  first  settlers 
were  New  Engenders,  and  their  energy,  attracting  more  people  of 
the  same  kind,  built  the  present  manufacturing  and  shipping  city  of 
Rockford.  Working  lumber  into  furniture,  doors,  sashes,  and  win- 
dows is  the  chief  industry.  Dairy  products  and  harness  supplies  are 
important  shipments.  Rockford  is  a  large  wholesale  centre  for 
northern  Illinois  and  southern  Wisconsin.  It  is  also  an  educational 
centre.  Rockford  College  is  situated  here.  Of  what  county  is 
Rockford  the  seat  ? 

Belvidere  (6937),  like  Freeport  and  Rockford,  owes  its  location  to  the 
old  road  crossing  over  the  Kishwaukee  River.  The  country  surrounding 
Belvidere  is  especially  suited  for  dairying,  and  Belvidere  is  noted  for 
the  manufacture  of  condensed  milk  and  other  dairy  products.  The  larg- 
est sewing-machine  factory  in  the  state  employs  1500  skilled  workmen, 
and  is  located  at  Belvidere.  This  town  is  the  seat  of  Boone  County 
])e  Kalb  County  is  also  in  the  stock  and  dairy  region.  The  land  is  high 
and  is  drained  by  a  number  of  streams,  north  into  the  Rock  River  system 
and  south  into  the  Illinois  River.  The  natural  timber  along  these  streams 
attracted  the  early  settlers,  who  believed  that  crops  could  not  be  grown  on 


CITIES' AND   COUNTIES  BY  PUYSIOGKAPUIVAL   Jt  EG  JONS      03 

the  prairie  soil.  In  the  contest  for  the  county  seat  Sycamore  (3653)  was 
selected  and  soon  became  the  commercial  centre  for  the  region.  The  can- 
ning of  vegetables  and  manufacture  of  hardware  are  the  important  indus- 
tries. De  Kalb  (5904)  has  outgrown  the  county  seat,  chiefly  owing  to  superior 
railroad  facilities,  and  has  become  an  important  manufacturing  and  ship- 
ping centre.  Barb  and  woven  wire  fencing  is  the  most  important  manu- 
factured product.  Large  dairy  and  fancy  stock  farms  surround  this  city. 
De  Kalb  is  the  seat  of  the  Northern  Illinois  State  Normal  School. 

Dixon  (7915)  is  one  of  the  oldest  cities  in  this  basin.  Dixon's  Ferry, 
across  the  Rock  River  at  this  point,  was  a  popular  crossing  place  for  the 
more  southern  of  the  old  roads  leading  to  Galena.  The  water-power  has 
made  Dixon  a  manufacturing  city.  It  has  the  largest  condensed-milk  fac- 
tory in  the  world.  Wagons,  farm  machinery,  and  pianos  are  important 
products.  Of  what  county  is  Dixon  the  seat  ? 

Sterling  (6309)  and  Rock  Falls  (2176),  on  either  side  of  the  river,  are 
a  few  miles  below  Dixon,  and  both  are  manufacturing  centres,  located 
where  rapids  in  the  river  give  natural  water-power.  Almost  the  first 
building  was  a  mill,  and  since  its  success  mills  and  factories  have  located 
about  the  dam.  The  manufacturing  of  harvesting  machinery  and  farm 
tools  is  the  most  important  industry.  Wire,  furniture,  and  flour  are  ship- 
ping products.  What  is  the  seat  of  Whiteside  County  ? 

Below  Sterling,  the  Rock  River  Basin  assumes  very  different  character- 
istics from  those  of  the  upper  basin.  The  river  flows  through  low,  level 
land,  once  occupied  by  the  broad  Mississippi.  (See  page  17.)  At  the  mouth 
of  the  Rock  River  the  Mississippi  divides,  and  flows  in  two  unequal  streams 
on  both  sides  of  a  large  limestone  island.  The  low  flood-plains  on  the 
east  bank  and  the  high  bluffs  of  the  west  bank  were  favorite  places  for 
Indian  villages,  and  the  island  made  a  safe  retreat  for  them  in  time  of  war. 
Though  this  made  a  favorable  place  for  the  white  men  to  trade,  like 
Chicago  it  was  too  much  of  an  Indian  thoroughfare  for  permanent  white 
settlements,  until  in  1816  the  government  built  a  fort  on  the  island,  which 
afforded  the  settlers  protection. 

The  east  bank  was  the  more  favored  for  residence,  and  a  small 
settlement  grew  rapidly  on  the  broad  flood-plains,  under  the  protec- 
tion of  the  prominent  bluffs  behind.  When  Rock  Island  County  was 
apportioned  off,  this  settlement  became  the  seat  under  the  name  of 
Rock  Island.  At  this  point  the  Mississippi  River  flows  over  rapids 
with  a  fall  of  21  feet  in  14  miles.  These  rapids  are  especially 
prominent  on  the  east  side  of  the  island,  and  in  a  very  early  day 
this  splendid  water-power  was  utilized  for  small  mills  to  make 
lumber  of  the  logs  that  were  floated  down  the  Mississippi  from  the 
more  northern  forests.  Then  Rock  Island,  and  the  city  of  Daven- 
port in  Iowa  on  the  west  bank,  became  great  lumber  centres  for  a 
time,  but  the  decreasing  supply  of  lumber  in  the  northern  forests 


ILLINOIS   fiTATK  SUPPLEMENT 


has  caused  this  industry  to  greatly  diminish.  Numerous  manu- 
facturing concerns  built  along  the  river  to  use  the  water-power. 
The  growth  along  the  river  was  limited  by  the  high  hills  above  the 
flood -plains,  and  another  manufacturing  city,  Moline,  grew  just 


FIG.  47. 
Armory  Row — front  of  shops,  Rock  Island  Arsenal. 

above  Rock  Island.  Thus  the  tri-cities  of  Rock  Island  (19,493), 
Moline  (17,248),  and  Davenport  grew  on  the  shores  about  the 
island.  The  island  made  the  river  easy  to  bridge  at  this  point,  and 
the.  government  aided  the  Chicago,  Rock  Island  and  Pacific  Railway 
to  build  here  the  first  railroad  bridge  across  the  Mississippi  connecting 
the  West  with  the  East.  This  gave  the  tri-cities  the  impetus  to 
boom  into  what  they  now  are,  —  centres  of  manufacture  and  ship- 
ping. The  island  is  the  property  of  the  federal  government,  and  on 
it  is  the  most  complete  government  arsenal  for  the  manufacture  of 
army  supplies.  Between  25,000  and  30,000  men  are  thus  employed 
who  make  their  homes  in  the  tri-cities.  Rock  Island  is  the  chief 
railroad  centre.  Its  manufactures  are  mainly  lumber,  stoves, 
ploughs,  and  farm  implements.  Moline  has  a  population  largely 
composed  of  thrifty  Scandinavians.  This  with  its  water-power  has 
made  it  a  manufacturing  city.  The  largest  plough  works  in  the 
world  are  located  here.  Many  other  farm  implements,  wagons, 
brick,  tile,  lime,  etc.,  are  manufactured  here.  The  tri-cities  have 
always  felt  the  lack  of  any  connection  by  water  transportation 


CITIES  ANti   COUNTIES  BY  PBY8IOQBAPHWAL   ItEGIOJiS      (.!/> 

with  the  Great  Lakes.  Fur  many  years  it  has  been  planned  that 
a  canal  should  be  built  through  the  old  Mississippi  River  bed  (see 
pages  16,  27)  from  below  the  rapids  on  Rock  River  to  connect  with 
the  Illinois  near  Hennepin.  Work  on  the  canal  is  progressing  from 
both  ends  and  should  be  completed  in  a  few  years,  connecting  with 
the  tri-cities  by  a  cheap  canal  route  Chicago  and  the  Great  Lakes 
by  means  of  the  Illinois  River  and  the  Illinois-Michigan  Canal. 

The  Mississippi  River  below  Rock  Island,  to  the  entrance  of  the 
Illinois  River,  flows  between  high  bluffs  on  eacli  side;  but  on  the  Illinois 
side  for  most  of  the  distance  a  low  flood-plain  lies  between  the  river  and 
the  bluffs,  so  low  that  it  is  poorly  drained  and  subject  to  overflow  and 
floods  from  the  Mississippi.  At  a  few  places  the  bluff's  come  near  the  river, 
and  here  small  towns  have  grown. 

The  only  place  of  great  importance  is  Quincy  (36,252),  located 
where  the  long  line  of  bluffs  makes  a  bend  toward  the  river,  leaving 
high  land  and  a  splendid  location  for  a  city.  The  Indians  realized 
the  advantages  and  beauty  of  this  location,  and  one  of  the  largest 


Fro.  48. 
Soldiers'  and  Sailors'  Home  at  Quincy. 


Sank  villages  was  located  here.     A  white  trading-post  was  located 
here,  and  its  growth  progressed  much  as  at  Rock  Island. 

Qnincy  formed  a  good  landing  place  for  early  river  transporta- 
tion, and  from  it  old  trails  ran  in  all  directions  to  the  centre  of  the 


(>6  ILLINOIS    STATK   .ST t'l'LKM h'NT 

-state.  Ou  account  of  the  high  bluft's  on  each  side  the  river  was 
easily  bridged,  and  Quincy  became  the  distributing  point,  not  only 
for  Illinois,  but  for  northern  Missouri.  It  is  also  an  important 
railroad  and  manufacturing  centre  and  ranks  third  in  size  in  the 
state.  Its  chief  industries  are  those  concerned  with  the  manufacture 
of  lumber  into  commodities :  furniture,  cabinets,  building  material, 
implements,  and  wagons.  Stoves,  iron,  and  leather  work  are  also 
important  products. 


CHAPTER   V 

SUMMARY 

Population.  —  Illinois  ranks  as  the  third  state  in  the  number  of 
its  inhabitants,  only  New  York  and  Pennsylvania  having  a  greater 
population.  "The  population  of  the  state  in  1900  was  4,821,550,  as 
compared  with  the  population  in  1890  of  3,826,358,  showing  an 
increase  during  the  last  ten  years  of  995,199,  or  26  per  cent.  The 
total  land  surface  of  Illinois  is  56,650  .square  miles,  of  which  650 
square  miles  is  water,  the  average  number  of  persons  to  the  square 
mile  being  86.  There  are  930  incorporated  cities,  towns,  and  villages 
in  Illinois  :  614  have  less  than  1000  inhabitants  ;  878  have  less  than 
5000,  27  have  more  than  5000  but  less  than  10,000  ;  14  have  more 
than  10,000  but  less  than  20,000  ;  four  have  more  than  20,000  but 
less  than  25,000. "*  All  of  the  larger  cities  of  Illinois  show  an 
increase  in  population  since  1890.  The  largest  percentage  of  gain  is 
95.4  for  East  St.  Louis  and  the  smallest  15.1  for  Quincy. 

The  urban  population  is  rapidly  increasing  in  the  northern  part 
of  the  state,  and  the  country  population  in  the  southern  portion  of 
the  state  is  growing  as  the,value  of  the  land  for  agricultural  pur- 
poses is  being  realized.  A  glance  at  Fig.  22  will  show  that  the 
population  is  much  denser  in  the  western  and  northern  parts  of  the 
state  and  also  much  denser  along  natural  transportation  routes  than 
it  is  in  counties  situated  at  a  distance  from  lakes  or  navigable 
rivers. 

Agricultural  and  Mining  Products. —  As  an  agricultural  state 
Illinois  ranks  among  the  first,  the  value  of  its  farm  lands  being  the 
highest  of  any  state;  it  falls  below  Iowa  alone  in  total  value  of 
farm  products.  The  great  diversity  of  its  products  keeps  it  from 
ranking  far  above  other  states  in  the  production  of  any  one  crop. 
Corn  is  the  greatest  crop,  and  as  a  corn-producing  state  it  ranks  first, 
surpassing  Iowa  slightly  in  amount  and  value  of  its  corn  crop.  The 

1  From  Census  Bulletin  No.  21,  Dec.  15,  1900. 
67 


68  ILLINOIS   STATE  SUPPLEMENT 

principal  corn-producing  part  of  the  state  is  the  central  and  northern 
portion,  the  Illinois  and  upper  Kaskaskia  and  Wabash  basins.  The 
small  amount  of  wheat  produced  in  the  state  is  not  nearly  enough 
for  its  own  consumption.  Rye  is  grown  principally  in  the  north- 
western part  of  the  state.  Most  of  the  crops  raised  in  Illinois  are 
turned  into  stock  or  dairy  products ;  450,000,000  gallons  of  milk 
are  annually  produced  in  the  state.  Illinois  stands  as  the  fourth 
state  in  the  production  of  hogs  and  fourth  in  the  number  and  value 
of  its  cattle.  It  takes  first  place  as  a  producer  of  horses  and  mules. 
The  dairy  products,  milk,  butter  and  cheese,  so  extensively  pro- 
duced in  the  northern  part  of  the  state,  cause  Illinois  to  rank  fourth 
in  this  line.  As  a  fruit  state  its  influence  is  just  beginning  to  be  felt 
through  its  railroads  newly  built  into  the  southern  portion,  thus 
giving  a  means  of  rapid  transportation  to  the  market. 

Apples  are  grown  over  the  greater  part  of  southern  Illinois,  the 
counties  of  Clay,  Marion,  Richland,  Wayne,  Jefferson,  Hamilton, 
Crawford,  Effingham,  Fayette,  respectively,  being  the  heaviest 
producers. 

Peaches  are  grown  to  a  greater  or  less  extent  over  all  of  southern 
Illinois.  Commercial  orchards,  however,  are  confined  mostly  to 
territory  on  the  Illinois  Central  and  Chicago  and  Eastern  Illinois 
lines,  which  give  quick  transportation  to  northern  markets. 
Marion  and  Union  counties  lead  in  this  line.  Jackson,  Johnson, 
Pulaski,  and  Alexander  counties  are  important  producers  of  small 
fruits. 

Gem  melons  are  produced  in  great  quantities.  Marion  County 
produces  annually  from  500  to  700  caf-loads.  Madison  County 
stands  second;  800  cars  of  fruit  and  vegetables  are  loaded  at  some 
stations  along  these  lines,  and  as  high  as  400  cars  of  apples  alone 
were  loaded  at  some  points  in  Clay  County  in  1892.  The  twenty- 
six  million  tons  of  coal  mined  in  the  state  have  given  Illinois  the  place 
next  to  Pennsylvania  as  a  great  coal-producing  state. 

Transportation  and  Manufactured  Products. — Illinois  ranks  third 
as  a  manufacturing  state.  "  The  high  rank  of  Illinois  as  a  manu- 
facturing state  is  due  primarily  to  its  transportation  facilities. 
The  communication  with  the  East  afforded  by  Lake  Michigan  and 
its  connecting  waters  early  made  Chicago  the  great  distributing 
centre  for  Eastern  products  to  all  points  in  the  West  and  Southwest, 
while  the  Mississippi  River,  bordering  the  west  portion  of  the  state, 
afforded  communication  with  the  entire  Mississippi  Valley.  Supe- 


SUMMARY 


69 


rior  railroad  facilities  were  the  direct  result  of  the  trade  routes  estab- 
lished by  these  opportunities  for  water  transportation ;  for,  when 
railroad  building  began,  Chicago  was  the  natural  focussing  point,  and 
to  reach  that  city  all  sections  of  the  state  were  traversed  and  opened 
up  to  settlement.  In  1900  there  were  10,997  miles  of  railroad  in 
Illinois,  a  larger  mileage  than  was  shown  for  any  other  state  in 
the  United  States.  With  such 
facilities  for  obtaining  raw  mate- 
rial and  for  marketing  manufac- 
tured products,  and  with  abundant 
bituminous  coal  in  many  sections 
of  the  state,  the  development 
of  manufacturing  lias  naturally 
been  very  rapid."  In  no  other 
state  are  small  cities  and  towns  so 
noted  as  manufacturing  centres. 
Slaughtering  and  meat-packing  is 
the  most  important  industry  in  the 
state.  In  the  64  establishments 
reported  in  1900,  employment 
was  given  to  27,861  wage  earners, 
and  the  produce  was  valued  at 
$287,922,277.  Chicago  is  the 
great  live-stock  market  for  the 
West  and  Northwest.  The  pack- 
ing of  meats  was  begun  there  in 
1836,  before  the  city  was  incor- 
porated. The  manufacture  of 
foundry  and  machine-shop  prod- 
ucts ranks  second  among  the 
industries  of  the  state,  with  758 
establishments  and  products  val- 
ued at  $63,878,352.  There  are  26  establishments  engaged  in  the 
manufacture  of  iron  and  steel,  the  industry  third  in  rank.  This 
industry  owes  its  great  development  in  Illinois  to  the  iron 
mines  of  the  Lake  Superior  region,  the  cheapness  and  ease  with 
which  the  ore  is  handled  on  the  docks  of  Chicago,  and  to  the 
low  price  at  which  the  large  supplies  of  bituminous  coal  are 
placed  on  the  market.  The  first  important  iron  plant  in  the 
state  was  the  rolling-mill  built  on  the  north  branch  of  the  Chicago 


ILLINOIS    MANUFACTURES 

Showing  proportional  amounts 

in  Yin-ions  cities. 

Chicago ?o.6*.._ 

Pcoria .3.92 „ 

East  SULouis...  2.7* 

Jolict 2.2*- .• 

Uockford — 11- -J 

Pekin _.l* I 

Moline- .8* I 

Oil  in.-) .1% I 

Aurora 6  % I 

Elgin _    6* I 

Springfield ....5  *_ .' 

Decatur 5  *  - ' 

Dlxon —.4  %.... J 

Uock  Inland .4  * ' 

Alton 4* ' 

Waukegan 4  % ' 

Kcwanee .4  * — 

Other  Cities...  12.9  % ...| 

(  Each  having  Us*  than  4  * ) 


FIG.   49. 


70  ILLINOIS  STATE  SUPPLEMENT 

River  in  1857.  The  first  steel  rail  made  in  the  United  States  was 
rolled  in  this  plant.  There  were  114  establishments  engaged  in 
the  manufacture  of  liquors  in  1900,  but  the  value  of  products 
has  decreased  over  10  per  cent  during  the  last  decade.  The  abun- 
dance of  corn  caused  distilleries  to  be  started  in  many  parts  of 
the  state  at  an  early  date,  but  Peoria  seems  to  have  been  the  most 
favored  location  for  this  industry.  This  city  has  become  the  largest 
producer,  of  whiskey  and  high  wines  in  the  United  States.  The 
manufacture  of  agricultural  implements  is  next  in  importance.  The 
increase  in  the  value  of  these  products  during  the  last  decade  was 
$17,424,136,  or  708  per  cent.  The  agricultural  expansion  of  the 
state  was  so  rapid  that  the  blacksmiths'  shops  early  developed  into 
agricultural  implement  factories.  The  two  important  raw  materials, 
wood  and  iron,  were  obtained  at  low  prices  as  a  result  of  the  cheap 
transportation  afforded  by  the  Great  Lakes.  This  condition  gave 
the  rapidly  growing  state  a  greater  advantage,  and  many  Eastern 
manufacturers  of  these  products  located  their  plants  in  the  new  field. 
•Men  in  other  pursuits  changed  their  occupations  and  embarked  in 
manufacturing  enterprises  of  this  character.  Competition  aroused 
the  inventive  spirit,  and  one  improvement  after  another  followed. 
Ploughs,  wagons,  and  all  kinds  of  machines  demanded  or  needed  by 
the  farmer  are  now  made  in  Illinois.  Nearly  every  town  and  city  in 
the  state  has  a  factory  for  the  manufacture  of  agricultural  imple- 
ments, and  their  value  is  now  more  than  three  times  that  of  the 
similar  output  of  any  other  state. 

Other  important  manufactories  in  the  order  of  their  importance 
in  the  state  are  2000  establishments  engaged  in  printing  and  publish- 
ing, and  900  concerns  in  manufacturing  men's  clothing.  The  871 
grist  and  flour  mills  show  a  decrease  in  the  value  of  their  products  for 
the  last  decade.  The  17  large  establishments  engaged  in  the  manu- 
facture of  steam  railroad  cars  produced  rolling  stock  to  the  value  of 
$17,117,223  during  the  ten  years  from  1890  to  1900,  giving  Illinois 
first  rank  in  this  line  of  manufacture.  There  are  98  railroad  estab- 
lishments engaged  in  car  construction  and  general  shop  work. 
The  six  glucose  factories  consumed  corn  to  the  value  of  20  per 
cent  of  the  entire  corn  crop  of  the  state.  There  are  now  35  dis- 
tinct products  made  from  corn  by  the  glucose  plants.  The  furni- 
ture industry  is  represented  by  148  establishments.  An  increase 
<>f  61  per  cent  in  the  value  of  cheese,  butter,  and  condensed  milk 
measures  in  part  the  growing  importance  of  the  dairy  industry. 


SUMMARY  71 

These  are  the  13   most  important  manufacturing  industries  of  the 
state.1 

Government.  —  There  are  certain  things  which  must  be  done  in 
order  that  the  4,821,550  people  in  the  state  may  advance  and  live 
peaceably  and  conveniently  together  ;  laws  must  be  made  to  keep 
them  from  interfering  with  one  another,  roads  must  be  built,  schools 
held  ;  and  homes  protected  from  fire  and  thievery.  If  every  man 
took  the  time  to  do  all  these  things  for  his  family,  he  would  have 
little  time  for  other  business.  It  has  been  found  best  that  each  man 
should  attend  to  his  special  business  and  contribute  part  of  his  earn- 
ings to  pay  men  who  are  capable  of  doing  these  things  for  the  good 
of  the  people  of  the  state.  It  is  intended  that  each  man  should  have 
an  equal  chance  at  election  time  in  voting  for  the  man  whom  he  wishes 
to  have  do  these  things  for  him.  The  state  is  divided  into  various 
districts,  each  with  its  definite  boundaries  and  each  with  a  special  part 
to  play  in  the  organization  of  the  whole.  Each  school  district,  town- 
ship, county,  and  legislative  district  has  its  own  officers  elected  by  the 
people  residing  within  its  boundaries,  and  over  all  is  one  executive, 
the  governor,  elected  by  the  people  of  the  whole  state. 

All  the  states  which  are  united  to  form  the  United  States  are 
very  similar  in  their  organization  within  themselves.  Each  state 
has  control  of  matters  within  its  own  boundaries  so  long  as  other 
states  are  not  affected.  For  the  purpose  of  controlling  its  own 
affairs  Illinois  is  organized  under  a  form  of  government  very  much  like 
that  of  the  United  States.  There  are  two  legislative  bodies  which 
meet  at  Springfield  once  in  two  years  to  make  the  laws  of  the  state, 
levy  taxes,  and  make  appropriations  for  public  improvements. 
The  smaller  of  these  bodies  is  called  the  Senate  or  "  Upper  House."' 
The  larger  is  known  as  the  House  of  Representatives  or  "  Lower 
House."  The  Senate  is  composed  of  51  senators,  each  elected  for 
four  years  from  a  senatorial  district.  Each  district  elects  three 
representatives  to  the  Lower  House.  What  legislative  district 
do  you  live  in  ?  With  the  Governor  are  a  number  of  other  state 
officers  such  as  the  Secretary  of  State,  State  Auditor,  Treasurer, 
Attorney  General,  and  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction.  These 
officers,  with  manj  boards,  commissioners,  and  inspectors,  appointed 
by  the  Governor,  have  charge  of  the  different  departments  of  state, 
aiding  the  Governor  in  executing  the  laws  made  by  the  legislature 

1  Most  of  this  material  on  in.aimftiot.ures  has  been  taken  from  the  Twelfth  Census 
of  the  United  States,  Vol.  VIII. 


72  ILLINOIS  STATE  SUPPLEMENT 

and  seeing  that  the  state  Constitution  and  the  laws  are  enforced. 
The  judicial  department  is  composed  of  the  Supreme,  Circuit,  and 
Appellate  courts.  These  courts  explain  and  apply  the  laws  of  the 
state  and  thus  assist  the  executive  officers  in  seeing  that  laws  are 
properly  fulfilled  by  the  people.  Each  county,  each  township,  and 
each  city  has  its  own  officers  who  attend  to  the  public  duties  in 
these  smaller  divisions,  much  as  the  state  officers  do  for  the  state  as 
a  whole. 


APPENDIX 

• 

TABLE   I.     GROWTH   OF   STATE   IX   POPULATION" 


CENSUS  YEARS 

POPULATION 

INCREASE 

Number 

Per  Cent 

1900   

1  8°1  550 

995,199 

748,480 
537,980 
827,940 
860,481 
375,287 
318,738 
102,283 
42,880 

26.0 
24.3 
21.1 
48.3 
101.0 
78.8 
202.4 
185.4 
349,1 

1890   

3,826,351 

1880   
1S70   ...                  
iSfiO   .                 
1850   . 

3,077,871 
2,530.891 
1,722,951 
851,470 
47(3,183 
157,445 
55,102 
12,282 

1  840 

1830  

1820   
1810   

TABLE    IT.     TABLE   OF   SOILS   OF   ILLINOIS1 


VARIETY 

ORIGIN  OR  MODE  OF 
DEPOSITION 

A  REAL  DISTRIBUTION 

Residuary 

Decay  of  the  un- 
derlying rocks 

Driftless  portion  of  the  state  wherever 
the  loess  as  well  as  the  glacial  drift  is 
absent. 

(  i  laeial  clay 

Glacial 

Mainly  in  the  northeastern  quarter  of  the 
state  where  loess  and  silts  are  gener- 
ally absent.  The  Shelby  ville  moraine 
forms  the  southern  boundary,  and 
chiefly  the  western  boundary,  but  in 
northern  Illinois  glacial  clays  form  the 
soil  on  the  older  drift  area  between  the 
Shelbyville  moraine  and  the  loess  of 
the  Mississippi  Valley. 

Taken  from  the  Report  of  Illinois  Board  of  World's  Fair  Commissioners.  1893. 

73 


74 


ILLINOIS  STATE  SUPPLEMENT 


TABLE   II.     TABLE   OF   SOILS   OF  ILLINOIS  —  Continued 


VARIETY 

ORIGIN  OR  MODE  OF 
DEPOSITION 

ARKAL  DISTRIBUTION 

(Jravelly 

Glacial  over  wash 
streams,  lakes 

With  the  glacial  clay  in  the  northeastern 
part  of  the  state  and  along  streams 
leading  away  from  the  Shelbyville  and 
later  moraines.  This  variety  of  soil 
includes  gravel  knolls  and  ridges,  over- 
wash  gravel  plains,  terraces,  and  raised 
beaches. 

Sandy 

Glacial  drainage 
streams,  lakes, 
winds 

Mainly  in  basins  along  the  Kankakee. 
Green,  and  lower  Illinois  rivers  ;  old 
lake-bottom  and  raised  beaches  near 
Chicago  ;  also  on  bottom-lands,  and 
fringing  in  many  places  the  low  bluffs 
of  streams,  and  locally  developed  on 
areas  of  glacial  formations. 

Silts   pervious  to 
water     (chiefly 
the  typical  loess) 

Mainly  by  slowly 
flowing  waters  ; 
perhaps  in  part 
wind 

Along  the  Mississippi,  lower  Illinois, 
lower  Wabash,  and  lower  Ohio  rivers  ; 
also  between  the  Illinois  and  the  Mis- 
sissippi from  the  Green  River  Basin 
south  to  the  latitude  of  Peoria  and  in 
the  basin  of  the  Big  Bureau  Creek,  in 
Bureau  County. 

Silts  slowly  pervi- 
ous to  water 

.Mainly  by  slowly 
flowing  waters; 
perhaps  in  part 
wind 

Mainly  in  west  central  Illinois,  west  of  a 
line  connecting  Alton,  Litchfield,  Pana, 
Decatur,  and  Peoria  ;  also  on  the  eastern 
border  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  loess 
belt,  in  the  northern  part  of  the  state. 

Silts  nearly  imper- 
vious  to  water 
(two      kinds, 
mainly      white 
clays  and  gum- 
bo) 

Nearly  still  wa- 
ters ;  perhaps 
wind  in  part 

White  clays  cover  much  of  southern  Illi- 
nois south  of  the  Shelbyville  moraine, 
as  far  west  as  the  Mississippi  loess,  east 
to  the  Wabash  loess,  and  south  to  the 
Ohio  River  loess.  Gumbo  is  found  on 
some  bottom-lands  along  the  main  river. 

iVaty  and  marly 

Vegetal  accumu- 
lations and 
shell  deposits 

Locally  over  the  greater  part  of  the  state 
where  drainage  is  imperfect.  Peat  is 
rare  south  of  the  latitude  of  Spring- 
field, but  it  abounds  in  the  northeastern 
quarter  of  the  state,  in  bogs.  Marl 
deposits  are  less  extensive  than  peat, 
but  are  fully  as  widespread. 

INDEX  TO  ILLINOIS  SUPPLEMENT. 


(Numbers  refer  to  pages.) 


Admittance   of    Illinois    to    Union    as    a 

state,  25. 
Agricultural  products,  9,   10,   18,  41,  67, 

68. 

Alexander  County,  68. 
Alton,  52. 
American   settlement   of   Illinois,   period 

of,  24,  25. 
Aurora,  43,  44. 
Batavia,  43,  44. 
Beardstown,  49,  51. 
Beaucoup  Creek,  18. 
Belleville,  55. 
Belvidere,  62. 
Big  Bureau  River,  16. 
Big  Muddy  Eiver,  17,  18. 

basin,  3,  17,  18,  19. 

cities  and  counties  of  basin,  56 — 58. 
Big  Vermilion  River,  18,  4(1. 
Bloomington,  50. 
Boone  County,  62.    ' 
Boundaries  of  Illinois,  extension  of,  25. 
Bureau  County,  47. 
Cahokia,  23. 
Cairo,  58—00. 
Calumet  River,  3. 

Canals,  2,  14,  16,  27,  28,  29,  31,  32,  42,  65. 
Carbondale,  58. 
Carlyle,  55. 
Carmi,  61. 
Cass  County,  49. 
Centralia,  55. 
Champaign,  city,  60. 

county,  60. 

moraine,  7,  14,  16,  17,  18,  43. 
Charles  Mound,  16. 
Charleston,  60. 
Chartres,  Fort,  23. 
Chicago,  city,  26,  27,  31,  32,  33,  43,  68,  69. 

of  the  present,  33—41. 

manufacture    and    commerce    portion, 
33—37. 

wholesale,  retail,  and  ofiiee  portion,  38, 
39. 

residence  portions,  39,  40. 

suburbs,  40,  41. 

discovery  of  site  of,  22. 

origin  of  name,  30. 

educational  institutions  of.  41. 

plain,  2,  13,  14,  23,  30. 

river,  2,  14,  22,  25,  30,  31. 


Christian  County,  56. 

Cities  and  counties  of  Illinois  by  physio- 
graphical  regions,  30 — 66. 

Clark,  George  Rogers,  24. 

Clay  County,  68. 

Climate  of  Illinois,  10,  11,  12. 

Coal,  4,  5,  16,  18,  19,  41,  45,  51,  53,  54,  56, 
57,  58,  60,  61,  68,  69. 

Coles  County,  60. 

Corn,  9,  18,  60,  61,  67,  68. 

Crawford  County,  68. 

Creve  Coeur,  Fort,  23,  47. 

Dairy  products,  68. 

Danville,  60. 

Dearborn,  Fort,  25,  30,  31. 

massacre  of  garrison  of,  25,  31. 

Deer  Park,  46. 

DeKalb,  63. 
County,  62. 

DCS  Plaines  River,  14,  22,  30,  42,  43. 

Divides,  2,  3. 

Dixon,  63. 

Drainage  areas  of  Illinois,  2. 

Drift,  glacial,  7,  8,  16,  18,  56. 

Early  settlers,  24. 

origin  and  character  of,  27. 

East  St.  Louis,  23,  52,  53,  67. 

Edgar  County,  60. 

EfHngham  County,  68. 

Egypt,  name  given  to  low  land  of  south- 
ern Illinois,  56. 

Elevation  of  Illinois  above  sea   level.  3. 

Elgin,  43,  44. 

Elizabethtown,  60. 

Embarras  River,  2,  18,  61. 

Emigration    into   Illinois    after    War    of 
1812,  26,  27. 

English  in  Illinois,  The,  22,  24,  25. 

Farm  animals,  9,  60,  61,  68. 

Fayette  County.  68. 

Fever  River,  26,  62. 

Forests,  56,  58. 

Fox  Lake,  14,  43. 
river,  16,  43,  45. 

Franklin   County,  58. 

Freeport,  62. 

French  and  Indian  War,  24. 

French  in  Illinois,  The,  22.  23.  24. 

Fruit,  9,  10,  12,  18,  20,  54,  56.  57.  58,  61,- 
68. 

fialena  26,  27,  62. 


76 


INDEX. 


Galesburg,  49. 

Geneva,  43,  44. 

Golconda,  60. 

Government  of  Illinois,  71,  72. 

Grant,  U.  S.,  26,  62. 

Grass  Lake,  14,  43. 

Green  Count}',  49. 

river,   17. 
Greenville,  55. 
Grundy  County,  43. 
Hardin  County,  58. 
Havana,  49. 
Hay,  9,  18,  60,  61. 
Hennepin,  47. 
Hillsboro,  55. 

History  of  Illinois,  21—29. 
Ice  sheet,  5,  13,  14,  18,  19. 
Illinois  County,  ceded  to  United  State?., 
24. 

organized  as  part  of  Virginia,  24. 
Illinois  Indians,  21,  22,  23,  24. 

origin  of  name,  22. 

river,  1,  2,  7,  14,  16,  17,  22,  23,  27,  30. 
43,  45,  49. 

river  basin  7,  14,  16,  17,  68. 

cities  and  counties  of  basin,  41 — 54. 

Territory  organized,  25. 
Indians,  22,  24,  25,  41,  45,  .47,  63,  05. 
Jackson  County,  58,  68. 
Jacksonville,  49. 
Jefferson  County,  68. 
Johnson  County',  58,  88. 
Joliet,  22,  42. 
Kane   County,  43. 
Kankakee,  River,  14. 

town,  43. 
Kaskaskia  River,   18,  23,  25. 

river  basin,  3,  17,  18,  19,  24,  26,  56,  08. 

cities  and  counties  of  basin,  54 — 56. 

town,  23,  24.  25. 
Kinzie,  John,  The   "Father  of   Chicago," 

31. 

Kishwaukee  River,  61. 
Knox  County,  49. 
Lakes,  7,  15,  16. 
La  Salle  County,  45. 

explorer,  23,  47. 

town,  27. 
Lead,  17,  26,  62. 
Lemont,  42. 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  25,  52. 
Lincoln,  50. 

Little  Muddy  River,  18. 
Little  Wabash  River,  19,  61. 

basin,  19. 

Livingstone  County,  46. 
Location  of  Illinois,  1,  10. 
Logan  County,  50. 
Mackinac,   Fort,  30. 
Mackinac  Island,  22. 


.M:uli>(pn   County,  68. 
Manufactured  products,  68 — 71. 
Marion  County,  68. 

town,  58. 

Marquette,  Father,  22. 
Mason  County,  49. 
Mattoon,  60.  " 
McLean  County,  50. 
Meredosia,  51. 
Metropolis,  60. 

Michigan,  Lake,  1,  2,  5,  6.  7,  10,  13,  14, 
22,  25,  27,  30,  68. 

drainage  region,  13 — 16. 
Mining  products,  67,  68. 
Mississippi  flood  plain,  3,  53,  58. 
Mississippi  River,  1,  3,  14,  10,  IS,  19,  20, 
51,  58,  59,  65,  68. 

upper,  discovery  of,  22. 

basin,  13,  14. 
Missouri  River,  23. 
Moline,  64. 
Monmouth,  49. 
Moraines,  2,  6,  7. 
Morgan  County,  49. 
Morris,  43. 
Mound  City,  60. 
Mount  Carmel,  61. 
Mount  Vernon,  57. 
Murphysboro,   58. 
Nashville,  55. 

Xon-glaciated   section   of   Illinois,   8,   18, 
19,  20,  62. 

(southern)    cities  and  counties  of,  58, 

61. 

Normal,  50. 

Northwest  Territory,  24,  25. 
Ohio  River,  1,  19,  20,  23,  26,  51,  58,  59. 

basin,  3. 
Olney,  61. 
Ottawa,  45. 
Ouilmette,  31.' 

Ozark  Hills,  1,  7,  10,  19,  58. 
Pana,  56. 
Paris,  60. 

Pecatonica  River,  17,  61. 
Pekin,  49. 
Peoria,  city,  23,  25,  47,  70. 

lake,  23/47. 
Peru,  45. 
Physiographical    regions    of    Illinois.    1:!. 

20. 

Polk  County,  58. 
Pontiac,  46. 

Population  of  Illinois.  28,  67,  73. 
Prairie  du  Rocher,  23. 
Princeton,  47. 
Pulaski  County,  68. 
Pullman,  37. 
Putnam  County,  47. 
Quarrying,  42. 


INDEX. 


77 


Quincy,  65,  66,  67. 

Railroads,  27,  28,  33,  42,  43,  69. 

Rainfall,  12. 

Relief  of  Illinois,  1,  2,  8. 

Richland  County,  68. 

Rivers,  2,  7,  8,  17,  19. 

River  basins,  2,  3,  21. 

Rockford,  62. 

Rock  Island,  city,  63,  04,  05. 

county,  63. 
Rock  River,  17. 

basin,  3,  16. 

cities    and    counties   of   basin,    Gl — CG. 
Salem,  55. 
Saline  River,  61. 

basin,  56. 
Salt  River,  50. 
Sangamon,  county,  51. 

river,  16,  50. 
Scott  County,  49. 
Shawneetown,  60. 
Shelby  County,  55.' 
Shelbyville,  56. 

Shelbyvillc  moraine,  7,  17,  18.  19. 
Slavery  Question  in  Illinois,  25. 
Soils,  2,  4,  7,  8,  16,  18,  19,  20,  73.  74. 
Southern  non-glaciated  region,  cities  and 

counties  of,  58 — 61. 
Spoon  River,  49. 
Springfield,  27,  51. 
Stark  County,  49. 
Starved  Rock,  22,  23,  45,  46. 
State  Capital,  located  at  Kaskaskia,  24. 

moved  to  Vandalia,  25. 

moved  to  Springfield,  27. 
Statehood,  period  of,  25. 
St.  Charles,  43,  44. 
St.  Clair  County,  55. 
Sterling,  63. 


St.  Ignace,  Mission  of,  22. 
St.  Lawrence  River  basin,  2. 
St.  Louis,  city,  23,  51,  52,  53. 

fort,  23. 

Storms  and  storm  tracks,  10,  11. 
Streator,  46. 

Struggle  for  ownership  of  Illinois,  24. 
Summary  for  Illinois,  67 — 74. 
Summit,  42. 
Sycamore,  63. 
Tazewell  County,  49. 
Temperature,  average,  10,  11. 
Tonty,  first  governor  of  Illinois,  23. 
Towns,  beginnings  of,  27. 
Transportation,  68,  69. 
Trees,  9. 
Tri-cities,  64. 
Union  County,   58,  68. 
Urbana.  60. 
Utica,  22. 

Valparaiso  moraine,  7,  13,  14,  43. 
Vandalia,  25,  27,  55. 
Vermilion  County,  60. 
Vincennes,  23. 
Wabash  River,  1.  2.  18.  1!),  -24. 

basin,  3,   17,  18,  68. 

cities    and    counties    of   basin    in    Illi- 
nois, 60—61. 
War  of  1812,  25. 
Warren  County,  49. 
Waukegan,  41. 
Wayne  County,  68. 
Wheat,  8,  9,  18,  54,  58,  61,  68. 
Whiteside  County,  63. 
Will  County,  43. 
Williamson  County,  58. 
Wilmette,  31. 
Zinc,  17,  62. 


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